Outside Affairs
by KuraiAmore
Summary: Zhou Yu has been taken - it is the only explanation for the sudden disappearance of the Master Strategist. When the Lord of Wu questions the Lords of Shu and Wei, the search turns up empty. What is to happen next? Warnings inside.Yay! Fifth chapter up.KS
1. 1 Prologue

**A/N:** Hi everyone and welcome to my first ever fanfiction. Just as a quick message, this account (Shuwazi) is not actually my own. It is borrowed from a friend, after she decided that she wished for my stories to be shared with her. Normally, I'd just email them to her but she never checks her emails so I've decided just to write them up on her account and let her find it herself. Therefore, whatever fanfiction I write pesonally shall have to initials 'KS' written at the end of every summary (KS stands for Kurai-Shuwazi).  
Shuwazi, if I remember correctly, you said that your friends also give you stories to add to your account, which is another reason for the whole initials thing.  
Anyway, I hope that you enjoy this story, and that I'll be able to express my abilities to you as a competent writer. On another note, I'm still new to the makings of Fanfiction, so it might take awhile before I am able to work out all the settings.

Anyway, enjoy the story!  
Warnings: eventual coarse language; yaoi, yuri and hentai when and where I feel appropriate; violence - I'll change the settings as I go, but for now, there's nothing that requires maturity.

On with the story!

--  
Prologue  
--

Sun Ce walked along the corridors of the Wu Castle, thoroughly annoyed and determined. He had checked everywhere, ticking off the list of places that his Master Strategist sought when the wild chatter of the brash Wu Generals finally grated upon his last nerve.

His office, his bedroom, both of the two libraries, his other unofficial office and most recently the gardens – where else was there to look?

Sun Ce frowned.

It was unlike Zhou Yu to go simply missing. He was far too serious and stern, often reprimanding them for childish antics, such as hiding. This was why Sun Ce found it so disturbing that not a single presence in the entire castle had seen a single hair of the strategist. His bright demeanour, however, meant that he could not dwell on the situation for long, turning instead to seek some other form of companionship.

'I'll just force him to hang out with me double the next time I see him,' Sun Ce thought, retreating back along the corridor he just came through. 'Maybe then I can guilt trip him into sparring with me more often. His fighting skills are gonna get saggy if he doesn't come out of his room at least once in a while.'

It was with these thoughts that Sun Ce ventured off into the training grounds, where a stunning display of aerial combat was taking place between Gan Ning and Lu Xun. Well, aerial in the sense that the two opponents seemed unable to keep their feet upon the ground, defying gravity for all it was worth.

Lu Xun wheeled off into a backwards somersault, just as Gan Ning leapt into the air with his sword outstretched. Landing back on his feet, Lu Xun twisted sharply, barely managing to avoid the Sea Master that came flying his way. On instinct, he brought up his Falcon daggers, crashing them down swiftly on the heavy sword, before vaulting into another complex spin, gracefully touching the ground as Gan Ning swung back to meet him head-on.

Along with Sun Ce himself, other spectators of this cart-wheeling performance included Sun Shang Xiang, Lu Meng, Taishi Ci, Ling Tong, Da Qiao and Huang Gai from a far distance.

The first to greet him was his wife.

"Oh, Sun Ce," Da Qiao smiled, before turning her attention back to the fighting pair. "They are quite a match, aren't they?"

"You can say that again!" Sun Shang Xiang responded before Sun Ce had a chance to comment. "I can't wait until I get a shot! It's been ages since I've had a good sparring match."

True to her word, she was bouncing up and down energetically, staring at the fight with a sense of longing, weapon clutched in her hands. The Sol Chakrams glinted in the sunlight, the shining blades curved to an almost malicious extent.

Sun Ce chuckled, uncaring as to who heard his laughter.

"You should be careful with yourself, sis," he said, a cheeky smiling gracing his tanned features. "If you fight too much, your bones are gonna get all old and weak, and then I'll have an old woman as a younger sister!"

Her response was to stick her tongue at him, eyes glancing back at the fight.

Gan Ning was just about to take a winning shot, slamming the hilt of his sword down upon Lu Xun's shoulders. He brought the sword above his head, ready to speak the winning declaration when the young boy suddenly shot out from underneath him. Startled, Gan Ning slacked his grip, appropriately surprised when two nimble hands found themselves on his shoulders and a body flipped above him, forcing his body downwards under the pressure. Cursing audibly, he turned as fast as he could to reinstate his advantage, but too late. One of Lu Xun's twin Falcon daggers landed on his shoulder, twisted so that the blade lined with his neck.

If anyone had been counting, they would have noticed that five seconds had passed, just long enough to tell everyone who the winning officer was.

Lu Xun's Falcon daggers withdrew themselves from his neck.

"I thank you for the match, Gan Ning," Lu Xun said courteously, a smile lighting up his charming face when the fight was over and he emerged victorious.

Gan Ning shrugged, picking himself off the floor and dusting away whatever filth had came upon his pants during the spar.

"Don't get confident," he said, teasingly, though the warning note at the back of the words was too easily clear. "This victory will be your first and only."

Lu Xun only continued smiling, looking up at the taller man with bright golden eyes that made Gan Ning want to beat him up (for winning) and ruffle his auburn hair (for winning) at the same time.

"I highly doubt that."

Ling Tong's comment turned heads with the ex-pirate making a low growl in his throat.

"You got something to say?" Gan Ning challenged.

"Nothing no one already knows," Ling Tong replied airily, flicking his hair over his shoulder while keeping his voice impassionate. Except for the smugness, that was _always _there when Ling Tong clashed with Gan Ning.

"What's that suppose to mean? You got a problem; you take it like a real man and face it out on the battlefield!"

Ling Tong's only reaction was to roll his eyes at the ex-pirate, standing lazily while everyone stared at the interaction, amusement unhidden on their faces.

"If I did take my problem out on the battlefield, then your ass would be whipped in two seconds flat."

"Yeah right, like you could do anything to the Great Gan Ning! I'd wipe you out with a single strike and send you away crying like a baby! Then we'll see who has what to say! Come on, I dare ya!"

Gan Ning immediately assumed an offensive position as the last challenge left his mouth.

Ling Tong smirked, no doubt expecting the inevitable to happen. Just as he was about to charge into attack, his nunchakus spinning in dizzyingly fast circles to his sides, a high-pitched voice called out.

"Aw, that's so unfair! You've already had your turn, Gan Ning! Give someone else a shot! It's seriously not funny seeing you get kicked up twice in a day!"

"Shut up, Sun Shang Xiang!"

Nonetheless, Gan Ning lowered his arms in surrender, turning to face his rival.

"You're lucky that the Princess of Whiners saved your butt today," Gan Ning said. "But don't think you'll be safe for long."

"Believe in whatever you want to, buccaneer, but the best fighter is obviously me. But I guess I'll just have to give you an ass-whipping to get that information stuck into your thick head."

Gan Ning gave another low growl in the direction of his rival as Sun Shang Xiang stepped into the outlines of the training grounds, ignoring the mocking title given to her by Gan Ning.

"So, who wants to go against me?" Sun Shang Xiang asked, looking at the number of faces that surrounded the sparring arena.

Lu Xun and Lu Meng were talking to each other, with Lu Xun asking about his performance to the older man; Gan Ning and Ling Tong were still glaring daggers at each other; Da Qiao sat prettily on the outside bench, no weapon in hand; Taishi Ci and Huang Gai appeared to be in deep conversation about the weapons and favourability of each one.

Only her brother was left.

"Okay, Sun Ce! I choose to stand against you!" Sun Shang Xiang proclaimed.

Eyes flickered over to the tall woman as she declared her choice in sparring partner. Sun Ce raised an eyebrow.

"You sure about that, sis? Last time I fought against you, Father came and started yelling my ear off. I was deaf for half the night!"

"But that was when I was young! I can take care of myself now, thanks. Come on, don't tell me that you're scared to take on your own sister?"

Sun Shang Xiang's taunt seemed to have worked its magic.

"What, me scared? Of you? No way; never! You'd better brace yourself, sis, I ain't gonna be going easy on you for that last line!"

Happily annoyed, Sun Ce ran leisurely over to the weapon storeroom, reappearing in the battle courts with his Overlord and prepared to kick anyone's butt. Even his sister's, now that he was hyped up and ready to go.

The fight lasted for about three and a half minutes, before swiftly turning into a game of tag, weapons discarded and left useless on the floor.

x-x-x-x-x

Exhausted and dying for breath, the young Lord of Wu and his sister ducked through the many passageways of the castle, their continuing game of tag still not yet at its end. Currently, Sun Ce was 'It'.

Finally Sun Shang Xiang collapsed on the stone floor, cheeks blushing pure red from exertion.

"Okay, I…give up!" she said, fanning herself with her hand as she fought to cool herself down.

"I…know!" Sun Ce appeared to be having an equally hard breathing. Just then, his stomach growled loudly, reminding him of his current lack of food.

"Dinnertime!"

Sun Ce walked off joyfully, ready to stuff his mouth full of whatever tasteful delicacies had been prepared in the kitchens. His sister fell in stride with him.

"You know I'll win next time, right?" Sun Shang Xiang asked turning at the next corner, though keeping her eyes fully trained on her brother. Sun Ce's eyes lit up at the thought of another competition and smirked.

"Who do you think will make it to the hall first?" Sun Ce asked cautiously.

"No doubt me – I'm a faster runner," his sister replied, mind already picking up on whatever idea her over-active brother had. Sun Ce nodded.

"First to touch the dinner table wins."

The words had not even flown properly out of his mouth before he was off and running, Sun Shang Xiang following close behind. He skidded to a stop at the sharp turn, almost colliding with the wall. Picking up his pace again in a sprint, he opted to leave Sun Shang Xiang behind in the dust. As the door to the dining came into his line of vision, he was forced to slow to a stop, before completely bypassing the door in his over-energetic nature. Sun Shang Xiang still had not caught up to him yet.

He slid the door opened and rammed it aside with a more-than-necessary amount of power. Immediately, his morning predicament came back to him.

Looking up at him was every other Wu General beside himself and his sister. Except one.

Zhou Yu.

--

**A/N:** So what do you think? I know that there isn't much of a plotline happening yet, but general comments would be appreciated. Please review if you feel that this story is worthy of attention, but that choice is up to you. I won't abandon this story due to lack of reviews.

So what do you think, Shuwazi? Good enough to be accepted as part of your account?


	2. Ch 1: Missing Ignorance

--  
Chapter 1 - Missing Ignorance  
--

_She glanced back at the Strategist, currently unconscious with his back scraping against the tough bark of the tree, his already bound hands tied high above his head. He had been completely stripped of everything, down to his last piece of clothing, after her minions had dumped his body unceremoniously at her feet. _

'_Stupid, stupid, stupid husband of mine!' she thought furiously and very much irritated. 'Send him out on one simple task and he still manages to mess the entire scheme up! Why the hell does that damned Wu Kingdom have to have so many damned strategists anyway? Isn't one enough?'_

_She looked back at the limp body trapped against the tree._

'_I told him to abduct the young strategist of the Wu Kingdom, not the Master Strategist. Why can't he follow such simple instructions? I'll have to give him a pounding when he gets back.'_

_Yet even as she thought these words to herself, she couldn't help but notice just how pretty and fragile looking the Master Strategist looked at that particular moment. _

_All just for her._

'_Well, he'll probably do,' she contemplated; now thoughtfully pondering the handsome features of the bound man before her. 'I can't risk my idiot of a husband not stuffing things up again, meaning that trying to take the other strategist will be worthless now, unless I want this plan to fail. But still,' she ran a single finger down the porcelain cheek, becoming immediately distracted from the foundation of her plans. 'So smooth! His skin is so smooth! Maybe he can be of some use to me after all…'_

_She didn't bother shifting her hand away even after the body began stirring. _

x-x-x-x-x

Sun Ce looked around at the faces staring back at him. Everyone showed little or no surprise, as though their young Lord crashing through the doors while they were eating was a regular occurrence, which it was coming to be.

Pounding steps reached his ears, reminding him of the little competition between himself and his sister.

Quickly, he ran forward, banging his hand on the table, resounding in a satisfying _thump _that echoed around the room. The table tilted upwards slightly, causing the plates and bowls to slide towards him, before the legs returned themselves to the ground and the cutlery balanced out once again.

Behind him, the sound of pounding feet halted and his sister's voice broke out into the silence.

"That's not fair! You cheated!"

"You saw it coming, sis. Don't feel too bad, after all, no one can ever beat me down!" Sun Ce flashed a hearty grin at her, before taking his seat on the right handed side of his father. Sun Jian's mouth arched slightly in a frown.

"Sun Ce, I sometimes wish you would be more mature," Sun Jian chided, looking down at his first son. "You've disrupted another meal, the fourth time in a single week!"

Sun Ce could only shrug. "Don't worry 'bout it, Pop," he said, reaching forward with his chopsticks as Sun Shang Xiang took her place on the second left seat of their father, next to Sun Quan. "It's not like anybody's actually caring."

Indeed, no one was. Everyone had resumed their meal, acting as though the mild disruption had never really occurred.

Sun Jian sighed. Sometimes, there was just no use in trying to reason with his son. The only person who was ever able to persuade Sun Ce over to their point of view was Zhou Yu. Sun Jian felt himself frowning once again.

Where was Zhou Yu?

He had been missing since the start of the day, not one pair of eyes having set sight on him since the night before. Quickly, he called attention.

"Has anyone seen Zhou Yu?"

Sun Jian's call over the long table stopped the chattering among the Wu Generals, as each person tried to remember whether or not the Master Strategist had been seen that day. Different variations of 'Nope', 'No, Lord Sun Jian' and 'Not since yesterday' sounded in his ears, raising concern for the man he had practically adopted as his own son. His frowned deepened.

"Hey, don't worry about it," Sun Ce's voice rang over the silence, though slightly muffled with the food juggling around in his mouth. He swallowed. "Zhou Yu's a careful fellow. He wouldn't let himself get hurt in any sort of way on some sort of silly adventure – that's my thing. He's probably just gone somewhere because it was too loud for him here in the castle; what's there to be freaked out about? Zhou Yu will turn up, and then we can ask him about wherever the hell it was he went." He paused to steal a piece of roasted chicken from his brother's chopsticks. "I'm not worried. You shouldn't be either."

Sun Jian, as well as the rest of the table, calmed down at Sun Ce's reasoning, though a feeling of pessimism swelled slightly in their chests.

"Did Lord Zhou Yu mention that he would be going anywhere today?" Lu Xun asked the quieted table, now that everyone's thoughts lingered on the unseen Strategist. Another chorus of 'Nope' and 'No' rang through the room.

"He never came to bed, either," Xiao Qiao added, her over-energetic nature now becoming slightly fearful for her husband's whereabouts.

Da Qiao frowned, copying her father-in-law's expression.

"How do you know that, Xiao?" she asked her younger sister. "We both know that Lord Zhou Yu has asked you to leave marital affairs alone for the time being, just as Lord Sun Ce has asked me."

Xiao Qiao's pretty pink cheeks blushed into an intense red.

"Well, it's not like I was actually waiting in his room or anything!" Xiao Qiao gave out a nervous giggle, eyes darting in between confused or amused looks given to her by all the other Generals. "I was just waiting outside for him, that's all! I swear! But he took _so _long that I couldn't take in anymore so I went back to my room." Xiao Qiao's face turned into a look of concentration. "I waited for like, four hours," she added, on a second thought.

"Tch, Zhou Yu could spend a whole night doing nothing but reading," Sun Ce said. "Four hours is nothing to him."

"But that still doesn't explain his disappearance," Lu Meng said, voicing his thoughts into the conversation.

Sun Ce rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Didn't I say that Zhou Yu could take care of himself? I know; I've been with him for as long as I can remember! I don't think that there's anything that Zhou Yu couldn't do if he puts his mind to it. Too much brains if you ask me."

"But that balances out everything since you don't have the amount of brains you should have," Sun Shang Xiang teased her brother.

Sun Ce stuck his tongue out at her, mimicking the actions she had displayed in the morning.

"Maybe we should send someone out to find him," Lu Xun suggested. "It won't do for him to be missing if Wei or Shu decide to land a surprise attack on us. Our morale is quite low alre-"

"Oh who cares?" Gan Ning's low voice interrupted. "Let them come! I could use a little bit of excitement around here! Once our little soldier-boys see me in action, their morale will boost up so much that Wei and Shu will stand no chance against us!"

"Yeah right, more like they'll fall dead from disbelief that their General is such a show-off."

'Why?' Sun Jian thought to himself. 'Why couldn't they just have one decent meal without an argument taking place between Gan Ning and Ling Tong, without his son bashing through the door when dinner was halfway over?' Sun Jian slumped forward in his sit and sighed heavily.

"I defeated way more Wei scum than you ever could," Gan Ning's declared, voice rising in dynamics as he verbally clashed with Ling Tong. "I can't believe the nerve of you! Like your soldiers even look up to you! If it weren't for your father –"

The table broke upon the wooden floor, smashing whatever had been placed upon its surface in electrifying motion. The delicate pieces of cutlery fell sideways and shattered, hundreds of fragments of expensive tableware littering the floor and scattering around the feet of the shocked Wu Generals.

Ling Tong stood furious, the underside of the table in his lower line of vision. The chair in which he had previously sat in now lay toppled on the floor, accompanying the table on its side. The dishes of the evening's meal set themselves in peculiar positions on the wooden ground; sauces, dips, spices, wholesome and partly eaten cuisines all dirtied the clean floor. The Generals sitting on the opposite side of Ling Tong soon found themselves assaulted with bits of food flying towards them in rough action. Quick reflexes saved most of the clothing from the attack of the flying food, but small splatters of liquid from the wine and sauce managed to sink themselves into the more heavily built forms of the Wu Generals.

Huang Gai and Taishi Ci soon found themselves bombarded with food and wine without the time to manoeuvre out of the way. Luckily, most of the food barely skimmed across them. Unluckily, the millet wine and other liquids had a wider reach, spraying them with droplets of sauces flavoured with ginger or anise. Both men gave out a roar of disapproval, but were ignored now that everyone's attention was focused on the fighting pair.

Ling Tong stared at Gan Ning with slit eyes narrowed in infinite anger, promising death to the pirate he hated since that fateful day. Ling Tong's eyes dared Gan Ning to complete the unfinished sentence. The pirate, in response, leapt to his own feet and readied himself for a fight. Uncertainty flitted through his eyes, however, when Ling Tong did not move. Not a single blink.

"Bastards like you have not a single right to speak my Father's name," Ling Tong hissed, voice dripping with pure venom directed entirely at the man he detested. "What do you know? You come here and strut around like you're the emperor of the world? Putting aside what you did to me, I thought you obnoxious and hateful, I thought you insufferable and repulsive, I thought you brainless, foolish, stupid, idiotic – but now, I know you're beyond everything vile and shameful in this life." As Ling Tong spoke, his voice became lower and lower, until it was a mere whisper. The poisonous malice contained in his words could be heard and interpreted by every person viewing as witness to the scene. "Hope that you do not cross paths with me again, pirate, no matter how closely our destinies are linked; not unless you wish to die the most painful death I would have the pleasure of giving to you."

As soon as the final threat left him, Ling Tong wheeled himself around and gave one respectful short bow to his Lord, who was sitting in shocked stillness.

Ling Tong's quick departure from the room left everyone in utter silence.

Uncomfortable in the midst of taciturnity, for whatever the reason, Gan Ning forced himself to speak.

"What the hell's his problem?"

Once again, heads turned. With every pair of eyes now trained on him, Gan Ning coerced himself to appear aloof at the situation, less his reputation be affected.

"Doesn't he realise that whatever's happened happened? Geez, what's the point of being so melodramatic about everything? One mention about his Dad and he goes and starts beating the living shit in me every way he can. We're on the same side now, aren't we? Can't he kill me and get revenge after the war ends?"

There was no response to his questions. Calculating eyes continued to look at him, and the awkwardness he was feeling began arousing nervousness within him.

"What?"

Still no answer. He shifted from foot to foot, vaguely wondering if the servants had noticed the overwhelming silence that was not becoming of the Wu Castle. Even Sun Ce had nothing to say. Gan Ning was getting desperate; he did not want to be the only with his line of thought – not on a subject like the one he was currently handling.

"Lu Xun?"

He turned to his friend. Lu Xun quickly shook his head and averted his eyes, rising as he did.

"I…ah…I think I'll turn in for the night," Lu Xun gave a very nervous smile, before following Ling Tong's example and presenting a short bow to Sun Jian, though with both hands clasped. Hurried, he exited the room, running away from the embarrassing dilemma to the safety of the outside hall.

'Betrayer,' Gan Ning cursed in his head. He looked at the faces of the Generals that remained, each lowering their eyes or turning away elsewhere when he came to meet them. He let out a slight growl in frustration. Xiao Qiao's nervous voice broke through the constricting silence.

"Um…sis, um, yesterday," she fumbled greatly with her words as she looked for an escape route. "Yesterday you promised to show me how to…to style my hair so that it wouldn't go messy when I wake up!" She grabbed her sister's hand and pulled her to her feet, jumping up as she did so. "Um…it takes a really long to do the hair, right? So…um…let's get a head start!" Xiao Qiao flicked her eyes over the male General that stood under the scrutiny of the other Generals. "Well, goodnight!" As she said that, she pulled her sister towards to door, left wide open as it had never been closed the first time Sun Ce stepped foot into the hall. Suddenly, she turned around, as though an afterthought had occurred to her. "Do you want to come too, Sun Shang Xiang?"

The woman in question immediately stepped up and snatched at the excuse.

"Sure, I'll come!"

With those words said, the three females walked out in giddy, self-conscious steps. Slowly, the Wu Generals poured out one by one, using excuses that would not have been accepted on any other occasion, such as 'I think I accidentally set my bombs to blow', 'I hear Lu Xun calling me – I think I'll go help him' and 'My muscles hurt; the day has not been good to me so I think I'll turn in early'. With meek reasons, Lu Meng, Taishi Ci and Huang Gai shuffled out of the room, no longer caring for their now dry clothing.

All that was left in the room were Sun Jian, Sun Ce, Sun Quan and his faithful protector, Zhou Tai and Gan Ning. The lack of people made the previous awkwardness even more intense than before. Gan Ning felt like a child that had been caught doing something that he should not have been doing, now that all that remained in the room were the utmost important Commanders of Wu. Zhou Tai's presence made it seem as though he were in a sort of formal meeting, now that Zhou Tai had risen from his seat and walked over to stand at Sun Quan's shoulder.

Three emperor-like beings, a bodyguard and an ex-pirate stood alone in the room, the once enticing smells of the forgotten food all but diminished.

Hesitantly, Sun Quan rose from his seat and turned to express his wanted permission to leave the confines of the room to his Father.

"I bid you a good night, Father," Sun Quan said, and too, followed suit and rushed from the room before he could called back with Zhou Tai not far behind him, loyal to the end.

"Gan Ning," Sun Jian began. Sun Ce visibly straightened, ready and all for watching entertainment in the form of the Pirate General being lectured by his Father. After all, it was funny watching other people get in trouble, not so much when he was in trouble. "Gan Ning, this animosity between you and General Ling Tong cannot continue, you both know that, very well I might add. You are both on the same side now, fighting for the same cause. There is no time for internal squabbles. I have seen when you two pit yourselves against each other, General, and I have to say that it is no laughing matter. That kind of aggression should not be directed towards the both of you every time you make presence known to the other. I ask that you remedy this, General Gan Ning, for the sake of myself, your comrades and the Kingdom." Sun Jian looked up at Gan Ning with determined eyes, leaving no room for a single counter.

But Gan Ning being Gan Ning had to have one.

"But did you hear what he said to me? He wants to kill me for hell's sake!"

"Admittedly, General Ling Tong's actions are also in need of instruction, considering the many assassination attempts he has placed upon your life. This does not mean, however, that he is entirely at fault. We all understand that the unfortunate death of his father by your hands could not have been prevented, as you were still then on the opposing army."

Gan Ning opened his mouth, ready to agree with his Lord wholeheartedly.

"Do not interrupt me."

Gan Ning closed his mouth.

"As I was saying," Sun Jian continued. "Both the tendencies you and General Ling Tong have towards each other are reaching breaking point. Due to this, I now hand it your mission to quell this hatred you harbor for one another and pacify the relationship between you. I refuse any retaliation you have for the assignment I have handed to you. I wish you luck."

Having said his final words, Sun Jian stood and walked purposefully out of the room, before making his way to his quarters and welcoming the soothing bliss of the quiet night. Sun Ce gave out a low whistle.

"What a crappy mission to have," Sun Ce commented as Gan Ning let out an emotional groan. "Sucks to you – what Pop told you to do is so way harder than understanding Zhou Yu's battle tactics. And do you have any idea how hard it is to understand what the hell it is he's going on about when he uses words that I have never heard before?"

Gan Ning groaned again, this time from trying to shake out the stiffness in his legs from standing in a still position for too long.

"Shut up, Sun Ce," Gan Ning said, glaring at the Young Lord in exasperation. "No one asked about what you thought."

Sun Ce shrugged, before a cheeky smile highlighted his face. "So, what do you plan to do with Ling Tong?" Sun Ce asked.

"I don't know," the ex-pirate answered. "Can't I just leave things the way they are? He's gotta get tired with this revenge thing sooner or later."

"Pop said to _do something_."

Gan Ning made a face. "You sound like Zhou Yu."

Sun Ce smiled at the mention of his best friend's name. "Zhou Yu should probably be back from wherever it was he went off to," Sun Ce spoke out loud. "He'll probably be in his room, or office. I can't believe he missed the whole thing! Oh well, I guess I'll just have to recount what happened for him, and then maybe he could think something up for you. I mean, seriously, how hard can it be for you to make friends with Ling Tong? He's got a nasty tongue, that's for sure, but he's a pretty cool guy, don't you reckon?" Sun Ce stopped in his musings to look pointedly at Gan Ning, before resuming. "Anyway, good luck. I'm gonna go find Zhou Yu now." Sun Ce offered Gan Ning a small smile and wave of the hand in support of the task the Gan Ning had been given to accomplish and walked out of the room like everyone else.

Gan Ning let out a final groan at his amazingly bad luck and was about to follow Sun Ce out of the door when a thought crossed his mind. Flipping the table back so that the legs were actually on the ground, Gan Ning let a smirk take over his face when the table landed upright.

'I'll let the servants take care of the mess,' Gan Ning thought, eyeing the cold meat with distaste. Upon making it back to his quarters, Gan Ning collapsed wearily on his bed, sighing in content and irritation. Today just had not been his day. First off, he had been beaten in combat by a kid one head shorter than him, then he had let himself get embarrassed by Ling Tong and now…

'Stupid Sun Jian and his stupid mission,' Gan Ning thought in contempt. Utterly tired from what the day had brought about, Gan Ning had never been more grateful when the callings of sleep drifted him off into a world of dreams.

x-x-x-x-x

Sun Ce burst open the door that stood between him and the room belonging to Zhou Yu, expecting to see a human form within since his search for the Strategist had turned up empty in said strategist's office. There was nothing.


	3. Ch 2: Problems

**A/N: **Hi! I just realised that I had completely forgotten to place a disclaimer at the beginning of the story. So I'll do it now...

**Disclaimer: Dynasty Warriors does not belong to me. Production of Koei, who owns all rights to DW.**

Now that's out of the way, let's continue...

_--  
_Chapter 2 - Problems  
--

_He shifted as he felt something warm touch his cheek. Despite numerous shakings of the head, the insistent hand kept returning to touch his skin._

_'What the hell…?'_

_He twisted his head sharply to the side, attempting to be rid himself of the annoyance that wouldn't cease. Instead of snuggling into silk pillows like he had been expecting, he crashed his face into a texture that was not totally unfamiliar. He furrowed his brow in thought; he had obviously been taken from his room, though where he was now lay a mystery. The hand that was continuously stroking his face was probably Xiao Qiao; after all, his wife did often hang around his room during nightfall, even though he had specifically told her that dealing with marital business was beyond him in such a time of war._

_But, since when did his wife ever have the nerve to touch him as directly as this? He could feel fingertips and the scrapings of nails flitter back and forth on his lower lip, occasionally moving up to touch his upper lip. He tried to batter the hand away, but realised that something was holding him back. His hands…his hands were above him. Why was he sleeping in an upright position?_

_Shifting his legs slightly, he found that he could no longer feel the soft sheets of his bed. Instead, the surface he was on felt warm yet cold, as though stone heated by sunlight. Then he realised, he was naked. Completely, humiliating naked and entirely bare for whatever eyes had the opportunity to roam over his vulnerable body. Finally conscious of the state that he was in, he clasped his legs together as tightly as he could, still wondering why the hell he couldn't move the hands. He tried to open his eyes to observe his surroundings, but found that he was unable to. _

_'Shit.'_

_He flexed his fingers and felt as they move against each other, rubbing against whatever the hell it was that his back had been pinned to. There was a feeling of burning as he tried to twist his hands, finally realising that he was being held down in a captive's position. _

_A womanly chuckle distracted him from the wild thoughts racing around in his head and he stilled his exposed body._

x-x-x-x-x

Sun Ce took one long look at the room that held the property of his sworn brother. He could smell the slight fragrance of the oils that Zhou Yu used to wash his hair linger in the swallow atmosphere of the room. Pushed along the open window was a long table covered with scrolls of maps and tactics, thin brushes coated with dry ink and an inkpot that sat directly under the window.

Next to the table was a beautifully decorated bookshelf, deep red in colour. In it were other scrolls and thickly bound books that Zhou Yu kept for personal reading pleasure. On the opposite wall from the window was Zhou Yu's wardrobe, covering the entire wall as it held within its contents his daily robes, his formal robes, his swords and his armour. On the right bedside table thick candles sat in their holders, the blackened wicks protruding out from the wax. On the left bedside table an oval shaped bowl filled with water sat in the form of a basin. The bed was clean and tidy, sheets made and pillows fluffed. But other than his possessions, no trace of Zhou Yu could be seen.

'What the hell?' Sun Ce thought, lips forming a pout at the absence of the person he wanted as a gossip partner. 'Where the hell is he?'

Sun Ce walked forward and flopped himself down on the comfortable bed. 'I guess I'll just wait for him here,' he thought to himself, now immensely curious as to where Zhou Yu was at that moment. 'I suppose it would be okay to fall asleep here. When he comes back then he'll have to wake me up to get me out of his room, then I'll be able to tell him everything about what happened with Gan Ning and Ling Tong.'

Shifting around until he found the most comfortable position attainable among the many silk sheets and pillows, Sun Ce allowed his eyes to flutter close. His mind played the tune of a song, name forgotten, he once heard Zhou Yu play, before ceasing all thoughts when the lullaby of sleep fell over him.

x-x-x-x-x

A groan made itself heard as Sun Ce felt unrelenting sunlight shed over his closed eyes. He rolled over onto his stomach, vaguely aware that he was sleeping in a place that he shouldn't have been. Somewhere in the depths of his sleep-fogged mind, he recalled the name of his best friend. Of course, he was still in Zhou Yu's room, having fallen asleep while waiting for Zhou Yu to return from wherever it was he had gone. He opened his eyes, recognising the red shade of the pillow he currently half-rested his head on. Opening his mouth, he let escape a tired yawn before turning over to let his still sleepy mind take in the vision before him. Nothing had changed, except for the now tousled bed he lay in.

Sun Ce wasn't really worried about the lack of his Master Strategist, however, believing that Zhou Yu would be in his office, or maybe even sleeping in Sun Ce's room. The first option seemed more befitting for a man of Zhou Yu's personality. Sun Ce promptly lifted himself off the bed, only to collapse back on it.

'Too tired,' Sun Ce thought lazily. 'Later – I'll go and find him later.'

And so, Sun Ce went back to sleep, making himself a promise to find his friend later in the day.

x-x-x-x-x

The soft swirls of the clouds curtained over the sun, providing some relief for the humanity that resided below the Heavens. Gan Ning and Lu Xun sat together on the miniature bridge that arched over the small pond, both deep in thought.

"I still can't believe you left me in there all alone, Lu Xun," Gan Ning said with accusing eyes turned towards the young boy. "You could have at least stuck up for me."

"Sorry, Gan Ning, but it was so awkward. I felt like the entire room was suffocating and I wanted to get away as quickly as possible."

"I know. But still…you didn't have to leave."

Lu Xun sighed. "Venting your frustrations out on me won't help fix your predicament," Lu Xun said maturely. "Do you really think that Ling Tong said what he meant? That he'll kill you if you ever cross paths again?"

"I dunno," Gan Ning replied, jutting his legs out from the side of the bridge and proceeding to swing them back and forth needlessly. "I think he meant it when he said it, but if he actually has the guts to carry it out – that's what I'm worried about."

"I'm quite sure he does," Lu Xun said, pessimistically. "Anything that has to do with you getting injured or humiliated he'd have the guts for. I suppose you'll just have to avoid him until he cools down then."

Gan Ning slumped forward and rested his head in his hands.

"It's not that easy."

"Why not?" Lu Xun asked, surprise apparent in his golden-brown eyes.

"Because Sun Jian said that I have to be friends with him."

Lu Xun stared at Gan Ning in disbelief.

Gan Ning noted the facial expression approvingly. "That's what I thought too."

Lu Xun turned back to look at the water and his dangling legs. A few hundred thoughts crossed his mind, none of which were very relevant to the topic at hand. He told himself to focus; Gan Ning looked really dejected at the thought of what he had to do.

"Well," he began. "It probably would be best for everyone if you guys could at least look at each other without getting into a fight of some sort. The maids screamed when they saw all the food supplies on the floor that time you and Ling Tong had a food fight."

"Well he started it!" Gan Ning stated angrily.

"It doesn't matter," Lu Xun pointed out. "Lord Sun Jian had to double the amount of harvest from the villages in order for the soldiers to be well nourished. Nothing was edible after what you and Ling Tong did. That's part of the reason that our soldiers' morale has been so low lately."

Gan Ning looked shocked. "But that was months ago!"

Lu Xun nodded, still staring down at the clear water. He could see the stone bottom of the pool in between the many water lilies that floated softly along the water's surface. "The soldiers still haven't forgotten about it though. If they ever found out that two of the most fearsome Wu warriors were trying to behead each other – I'm not sure what will happen."

"Only he's trying to kill me," Gan Ning corrected. "I'm not trying to kill him."

"It really isn't a laughing matter, Gan Ning, you know that right?"

"Yeah, I know," Gan Ning sighed gloomily.

"So what are you planning to do?" Lu Xun asked, finally bringing his gaze back up to meet the ex-pirate.

Gan Ning let out another sigh. "Why do people keep asking me that?"

"Um, maybe because it's your problem."

"Yeah, but like hell I know what to do. Can't someone just give me a hint?"

Lu Xun changed his gaze to look up at the sky. "Maybe you should just go and talk to him. I'm sure that Lord Sun Jian would have spoken to him about this – he wants both of you to be friends, after all. It wouldn't work if you're the only one making the effort."

Gan Ning followed his friend's gaze and looked up at the sky and its immeasurable height. "I guess. It's really the only thing that I can do, isn't it?"

Lu Xun looked at him seriously and nodded. "Good luck."

"Thanks – I'll need it."

They sat in silence for a while longer, before it was broken by Lu Xun.

"So?"

"So…what?"

"Aren't you going to go and talk to him?"

"What, right now?"

"Yes, right now. Before he has the time to decide how he wants to kill you."

"Painfully, no doubt," Gan Ning said, cringing as he wondered what was going through Ling Tong's head. "But you know…" he turned back to Lu Xun. "Talking about that doesn't make me want to go and talk to him."

"Then stop talking about that and go talk to him."

"Fine, fine." Gan Ning picked himself from the languid position on the bridge. As he reached the edge of the walking path over the pond, he turned to voice his final thought to Lu Xun on the matter. "If he does kill me, I'm gonna haunt you for the rest of your life."

Lu Xun shrugged nonchalantly and continued his observation of the sky and its dazzling azure shade.

x-x-x-x-x

Sun Ce glowered darkly at the human-empty room. Now he was worried. Throughout the entire day, he had been wandering absentmindedly around the castle, waiting for the sight of his best friend to appear before his eyes. As luck would have it, no such sighting appearing. It was almost time for dinner.

The sun was beginning its descent from the sky, lingering towards the western side of the castle. Strolling along the deserted corridor, he headed for the dining hall, where the other Generals would not doubt be stationed. He heard his stomach grumble and he could only smile. A long day of doing nothing tended to make him more hungry than a day filled with excitement. As he turned into the next walkway he saw Lu Meng emerge from a door on the right side of the wall, Lu Xun walking by his side.

"…so I told him to go and talk to Ling Tong. Do you think it was a bad suggestion?"

Sun Ce watched as Lu Meng stopped shortly and looked down one the young strategist.

"No," he said, after a long moment of contemplation. "It would be obvious to everyone faced with this quandary that a personal confrontation would be the only way to solve the problem." Lu Meng shook his head. "But I think that you offered the suggestion too soon. Ling Tong is not very patient General. If he were to see Gan Ning straight after what had transpired during dinner, my assumptions would be that he would try and take Gan Ning's life."

Sun Ce couldn't help it. He had to butt in.

"You really think that would happen?"

Both males turned to face their respective Lord.

"Lord Sun Ce?" Lu Xun asked, questioningly.

"Do you really think that Ling Tong will kill Gan Ning if he sees him?" Sun Ce said, repeating his thoughts as he fell into stride with Lu Men and Lu Xun. The three males continued on their way towards the dining hall. Deep in thought about the posed question, Lu Xun paused, having walked no more than fifteen metres.

"Well," Lu Xun considered, remembering back to his first real conversation with the Pirate General on the tiny bridge. "The possibility of that outcome cannot be ruled out to be entirely implausible. Obvious signs show that nothing would please Ling Tong more than the death of Gan Ning. It is not as though he has been trying to hide his dislike for Gan Ning in any way. I believe that it is a matter on his loyalty to Wu. If you truly wishes to serve you, Lord Sun Ce, and your Father, then I'm quite sure that it is within his capabilities not to assassinate Gan Ning anytime soon."

Lu Xun paused in his words to cast a quick glance over at Lu Meng. A nod of approval at Lu Xun's opinion gave him a burst of confidence and he beamed with pride. He only wished that Zhou Yu was around to see the way he had handled the question delivered to him by the young Wu Lord.

"So that's a 'no', right?" Sun Ce asked, wishing for more simple language instead of the complex ramble of words that all strategists seem to use. "And call me 'Sun Ce', Lu Xun. I keep telling you, formalities just aren't my thing."

Lu Xun's nervousness appeared apparent, as Lu Meng placed a hand on the young boy's shoulder.

"It's okay to call him by his name without an honorific, Lu Xun," Lu Meng reassured him. "Sun Ce prefers it, and anyhow, 'Lord' just doesn't suit him."

Sun Ce gave out a short bark of laughter, softly punching Lu Meng on the shoulder in response to what Lu Meng had said. A single grunt emitted from the hit man and Lu Xun bit back a smile that attempted to escape him. He didn't want to seem disrespectful to his mentor, even if he only came to Lu Meng when Zhou Yu had absolutely no time for him.

"Hey, um, Sun Ce?" Lu Xun started, still tentative about direct use of his Lord's name.

"Yeah?" came the reply.

"Ask while we walk Lu Xun," Lu Meng interrupted before the boy had a chance to voice his question. "We'll be late for dinner otherwise."

Complying with the half order, half suggestion, the three Generals continued along the corridor. The sun had fully set, though the night was bright with the luminescence of shining stars. The moon was not out, but that did nothing to hinder the glittering display of glowing night diamonds. The trio had decided to cross through the garden to reach the dining hall, letting the singing night air breeze past them.

"So what did you want to ask me, Lu Xun?" Sun Ce inquired.

"Oh," Lu Xun seemed to have momentarily forgotten about his un-asked question. He fumbled subconsciously for words, trying to remember what it was he had wanted to ask. "That's right." Lu Xun stopped in his tracks once again and turned to face Sun Ce.

Sun Ce halted at the unexpected pause made by Lu Xun, waiting to see what the young boy had to say. Lu Meng stopped as well, retracing a few of his steps so that he was well in the hearing range of Lu Xun.

"Has Lord Zhou Yu made an appearance at all today?"

The answer was immediate, rough and unwanted. "No."

Crestfallen, Lu Xun decided not to pursue the subject, but was pushed forward by Sun Ce.

"So you haven't seen him at all today either?"

Lu Xun shook his head, looking, for some unknown reason, shamefully at the ground, as though it was his fault that the supreme Strategist had gone missing.

"I thought that he would have been accompanying you," Lu Xun confessed.

"That's what I would've thought too," Sun Ce agreed. "It's not like him to play hide and seek like this."

"Hide and seek?"

"Well, I can't find him anywhere and I've been walking all over the castle. Feels to me like he's hiding, and since I'm the one looking, I'm the seeker." Sun Ce shrugged at his childlike logic. "Sounds like hide and seek to me."

"Perhaps we should call a search team," Lu Meng suggested, remembering back to what Lu Xun had said when the topic was first brought up during dinner.

"Well, it's only been two days since he was last seen," Sun Ce said, though the worried tone could by well detected by the trained senses of Lu Xun and Lu Meng. "It might just be nothing."

"I doubt it," Lu Xun voiced. "Lord Zhou Yu is a very responsible man. He would not go wandering off, especially at this time. The confidence of our army is surely leaving us. The men are becoming nervous at the lack of action, even though they are immensely grateful for it. I have heard the men whispering; talking amongst themselves about what Shu and Wei plan. It seems that they believe that we are doomed to fail in our conquest to unite China."

Sun Ce was startled at the severity of this news. Were the loyal soldiers of Wu truly that doubtful of what could be achieved with Zhou Yu by his side? Sun Ce shook his head at the thought. There was no way that their army would desert them now, not when they had made it this far. The foundation for their kingdom was all set. The only thing that was needed was to conquer the rest of China under their name.

"There's no way that that could happen," Sun Ce countered, determined not to be pressured by the negative opinions of the Wu army. "They just need a holiday, that's all. Then, when they come back, they won't be so grouchy as to actually think about leaving Wu ranks." He faltered slightly. "They're not actually thinking about that now…are they?"

Lu Xun shook his head and relief flooded into Sun Ce, until Lu Meng spoke.

"Do you think that they'll leave if they find out that Zhou Yu is missing and Ling Tong is trying to kill Gan Ning?"

"Zhou Yu isn't missing!" Sun Ce couldn't help but snap. It wasn't like he actually wanted to yell at Lu Meng, who was only analysing the situation in the usual critical eyes of a strategist. No, he just didn't want to think about the idea of his best friend missing, especially after everything they had been through together. "He just went somewhere for a while and we don't know where he is, that's all!" Sun Ce hated looking at the negative side of things, and the idea of Zhou Yu missing was definitely negative.

"Last time I checked, that's the definition of missing," Lu Meng said, voice devoid of emotion.

Sun Ce opened his mouth, some form of retort forming and ready to be spat out, but Lu Xun quickly intervened, hoping to prevent any sort of fighting that might just happen to break out. The situation between Gan Ning and Ling Tong was bad enough.

"Perhaps we should leave this matter to deal with until later," Lu Xun said quickly. "Like Lo- I mean, Sun Ce said, it has only been two days since his disappearance. It could be nothing, but that may not be the case. I think that it would be best to wait just a bit longer. If, throughout all of tomorrow, not even the slightest glimpse of Zhou Yu is seen, then we send out a search party. It won't be long before the soldiers realise that Zhou Yu is missing. We need to prevent that from occurring and make sure that their morale continues to stay at a high level. Is that plan okay?"

Though slightly disgruntled, Sun Ce was unable to argue with Lu Xun. It was true that if Zhou Yu's disappearance was noticed by the soldiers, confidence would diminish quickly.

"Fine," Sun Ce said, before continuing on the chosen path to the dining hall. Lu Xun and Lu Meng hurried to keep pace with him. "But I doubt that he's really missing."

"It would still be for the best if we were to find him," Lu Meng said.

"Obviously," Sun Ce said, rolling his eyes. Lu Meng took no notice of the action, instead, focusing on the two steps that lead back up to the corridors of the Wu castle.

Silence followed on, though nothing felt awkward or gauche. Walking along a few more candlelit hallways, they soon found themselves outside the sliding door that served as the entrance to the dining hall.

Lu Xun reached over and grabbed the handle, still wary for the loud noise that rocked through the room whenever Sun Ce opened the door. He slid it open quietly and the three stepped into the well lit room.

Sun Jian, Huang Gai, Sun Quan, Zhou Tai and Sun Shang Xiang were already seated in their seats. Sun Jian, like always, sat at the head of the table. Huang Gai was seated on his right with his daughter seated on his left. Sun Shang Xiang then had her little brother sitting on her other side and then Zhou Tai sitting two seats away from her, next to her brother. Pulling out the second chair next to Huang Gai, Sun Ce plopped himself down lazily, as though expecting Zhou Yu to walk through the door and take the place between him and Huang Gai. Lu Meng followed Sun Ce, sitting on his right, with Lu Xun choosing his seat soon after next to Lu Meng on his other side.

Not even a split second later, the smell of cooked pork reached the noses of the almost famished Generals, shrouded in the scent of citrus fruits. The maids brought in platters of the tempting meat, drenched in sweetening or spicy sauces. Side dishes of vegetables displayed in appealing arrangements followed soon after, with heartily filled bowls of rice arriving no later.

The meal was nothing special, with the chopsticks already laid out on the table. No cue was given before the men in the room began digging in. Despite the loud munching that came from none other than Sun Ce, the room felt strangely quiet. Thankfully, the eerie silence was broken by the sliding of the opening door. Gan Ning stepped in, closing the door behind him firmly.

Both Lu Xun and Sun Jian raised an expectant eyebrow at him. Gan Ning did not miss the twin gestures but made no comment on it. He took a sit next to Lu Xun; as though this action was suppose to quell the questions that would no doubt be asked. He continued to remain silent, picking up his eating utensil and piling a heap of rice into his mouth.  
After all, Gan Ning reasoned, only Lu Xun, Sun Jian and Sun Ce knew about what he had been asked to do. If he kept silent, ate quickly and escaped the room before any inquiries were made, then he would be able to survive until the next day. His less-than-enthusiastic attempted to find Ling Tong lasted for five minutes, before he decided that there were better things to do with his day. Instead, he had spent the remainder of the day avoiding contact with a certain young strategist whose words had coerced him to go on the search in the first place.

'At least Lu Meng doesn't know', Gan Ning thought. He definitely didn't need two strategists ganging up on him to talk to the revenge-seeking General. Oh, how wrong and unfortunate he was. Just as he reached in to pull a chunky piece of meat off the pig's hind leg, the door flew open once again. Standing in the doorframe was the last person he wanted to see.

'Damn you, Ling Tong,' Gan Ning thought.

--  
Chapter 2 - Problems: End  
--

**Just a Note for EverKitsune:** I really liked to thank you for taking your time out to review on my fanfic. Yes, it is only my first fanfic so I wasn't really expecting any sort of review to pop up. Yours made my day. I was actually thinking about discontinuing the story for a few days, because I wasn't sure if anyone was actually reading. But if you enjoy the story, pointless as it may be, I will make an effort to try and write. Thanks once again for your review. Yours is my first and only.

**To everyone else:** I would also like to thank you for reading this far. I know that since the first chapter of the story not much of a plotline has really developed yet, and that it feels like I'm dragging out the story. But if you do feel like this fanfic is something that might turn interesting later, please keep an eye on it. I would really like some comments on how I'm doing, whether it be on my writing style, the feel of the story, the characters or anything in general. But once again, it IS your choice whether or not to review. I just hope I'm not wasting your time and boring you too badly... Thanks for reading, anyway!


	4. Ch 3: Major CleanUp

_--  
_Chapter 3 - Major Clean-Up  
--

_Walking along the forest paths that he considered part of his territory, his thoughts turned towards his bellicose wife and her personality changes. Ever since he had sent his soldiers out to capture the strategist of the Wu Kingdom on her orders, his wife had become increasingly clandestine, which was so unlike her. Her usually wild and machismo attitude had been swapped for one much more…concealed. She no longer allowed him into her private quarters, ever since his 'failure'. _

_Was it truly such a mistake to have taken the wrong strategist? Wouldn't any strategist do? Apparently not._

_His wife had wanted the candy-eye one; what was his name? Lu Xun, that's right. _

_His wife had wanted Lu Xun, after duelling and losing to him. His wife had become obsessed with Lu Xun in the most unnatural way possible. For her, anyway._

_And so she had devised her plan, spending countless of nights locked away with their Kingdom's best strategists, concocting a plan not even he knew of. This was another part of her personality change that made him cringe. Why would she ever exclude her husband from her plans? And since when did she ever care for tactics and strategy anyway? Wasn't her entire life's plan simply to go charging in, kick-ass and fearsome, until everyone decided to bow down to her?_

_He had been lectured, right until he had been literally backed down into a corner, about his 'mess-up'. She had been much more….dominating than usual, and for once, he could feel no persuasion from her words. No, he hadn't been stupid, asinine, blind, blundering, witless or any of the other words she had used to describe him. He had purposely taken the wrong strategist, but only because he didn't dare to return to her empty-handed. Had his choice been chosen, he wouldn't have taken a single tactician hostage, let alone the Master Strategist. _

_But that was what he found to be the most confusing part of the ordeal. His wife wasn't stupid, far from it. Why had she wanted to take Lu Xun, the young, inexperienced student, when it was the teacher that thought up all the plans to foil them? If she wanted revenge, she need only say the word and he would send the entire army pounding on the heavy door of the Wu castle. She knew that. _

_In his rather little mind, nothing made sense, but, he was certain that he would not regret his decision in having defying his wife's order for the first time in their marriage._

x-x-x-x-x

Usually, when a person arrived late for dinner in the Wu castle (Generals only), nobody cared and continued eating without a second glance. This time, however, Ling Tong felt every single pair of eyes flicker at his appearance into the dining hall, as though he was guilty of something that only they knew about.

Had news of Sun Jian's lecture somehow spread?

He glowered his eyes and stared darkly as his vision rested on the most hateful man he had ever met in his life. Did his warning mean nothing to the arrogant, smirking pirate that forever pissed him off just by existing? He took large, deliberate steps towards Gan Ning, determined for him to understand that _no one _messed with Ling Tong.

The normally raucous pirate felt his body tense. Why the hell was Ling Tong here? Well, the obvious answer would be because dinner was served here, but Gan Ning had no time to look at the more logical side of things. Though his mind told him to move, run like all of hell was chasing after him, he sat, slightly stunned at the sight of the man he had very much wanted to avoid.  
'A hard day's work all for nothing,' he thought, trying to convince himself that there was really no way that Ling Tong would kill him. At least, not in front of all the other Generals.

So, when he blinked once, he was very surprised to find that Ling Tong was already half way through the room, heading directly towards him. Mere seconds later, he felt himself swerve on pure instinct, barely managing to move out of the way as a pair of chopsticks hurdled in the direction of his head. He fell backwards on his chair, turning his head to see a rush of movement from the Generals sitting beside him. Lu Xun had automatically jumped up due to Gan Ning's sudden move, and was safely out of harm's way. Lu Meng, following Lu Xun's reaction, had pushed himself back from the table, though he made an attempt to catch the flying chopsticks. Sun Ce, mouth still full of rice and meat, became the one to stop the airborne danger.

Clenching his hand into a fist, Sun Ce collided his knuckles with the on-coming wooden eating tools and sent them whirling to the wall opposite him, luckily managing to avoid Zhou Tai. The chopsticks hit the wall with an unpredictably small amount of noise, though a very noticeable dent appeared after the chopsticks cluttered to the floor. As soon as all that action had passed, Gan Ning once again felt himself manoeuvring out of the way, rolling sideways to avoid being hit by various other objects that Ling Tong was throwing at him. After a highly dangerous game involving the evasion of three more pairs of chopsticks, four wine glasses, two empty rice bowls, two side dishes that were half-cleaned of their vegetables and fruits, an entire platter of pork, one chair plus all the avoidance skills belonging to every single General present in the room, save one, Ling Tong halted his actions.

Breathing heavily, Ling Tong surveyed the messy room, once again food-stained by his antics. The man he had been aiming for was standing on the far-left corner of the room, carrying a discarded chair in a form of defence. At some time during the erratic game he had been playing with Gan Ning, the other Generals had tipped the table to its side and backed off into the far-right corner, taking shelter from the fast-moving objects that appeared wherever Gan Ning was.

There was no longer anything within Ling Tong's reach that he could have used to throw at Gan Ning, who was still holding up the chair and looking at his rival through wary eyes. Slowly, the other Generals emerged from their refuge, no longer hearing the _smack_ that resounded when whatever Ling Tong had thrown hit the wall or floor. What they saw before them was worse than the mess that occurred during last night's dinner, one half of the room darkened with soiled food.

All pieces of cutlery were shattered on the ground with food fallen from their plates or bowls and spoiling the clean floor, just like the night before. That night, however, the maids and servants had a much more difficult job ahead of them. The walls were stained and dented, actual pieces of furniture snapped in half and broken. Areas in the danger zone where the wooden floor hadn't been tarnished were few, small and easily missed.  
After careful treading through the dirtied floor, the nine Generals that had been inundated with food arrived on the other side of the room, relatively clean, though shocked at the childish tantrum produced by Ling Tong.

Ling Tong glared at the Pirate General, now extremely pissed as none of his projectile household weapons had injured Gan Ning in the slightest.

More silence ensued, until a loud gasp was heard from the outside corridor. The Qiao sisters and Taishi Ci stood in the doorframe, marvelling at the mess that looked like a pure imitation of the night before.

"Um…did something happen?" Xiao Qiao asked, uncertainly.

Sun Ce bit back a laugh. Despite the fact that someone might have been seriously hurt due to Ling Tong's raging fit, he couldn't help but want to laugh at the expression on Xiao Qiao's astonished face. Not to mention the fact that he had actually thought Ling Tong's dramatic flying food expression was quite hilarious, especially because he was out of harm's way and was watching Gan Ning jump around crazily like a cat sprayed with water. He bit his bottom lip harder, trying to hold back a smile that was threatening to overtake him, but couldn't force his face into a more serious stance.

"Did something happen?" Xiao Qiao tried again, having noticed the very big smile that plastered itself onto Sun Ce's face.

There was no answer to Xiao Qiao's question. Everybody who had been witness to Ling Tong's rampage, however, looked at him guiltily, and it didn't take long for the more mature of the Qiao sisters to understand the situation.

"Come, Xiao Qiao," Da Qiao said quietly, tugging softly on her sister's sleeve and backing away towards the door behind her.

"Wait, what?" Xiao Qiao protested, brushing away Da Qiao's hand. Settling her hands on her hips in a look of rebellion, she stated fiercely to the male Generals. "I'm not leaving until someone tells me what's going on!"

Sun Jian let out a heavy sigh.

'Perhaps,' he thought, 'it would be a better idea to eat on the floor, just until Gan Ning and Ling Tong sort out the hostility that flares whenever the two are near each other.'

His attention was drawn back to the pouting Xiao Qiao, the murderous Ling Tong, the awkwardly placed Gan Ning, his own stifling son and the other cast of the Wu Generals except for Zhou Yu. What was he to do?

His mind wandered back to the dirty half of the room they were standing in.

"Gan Ning, Ling Tong, Sun Ce, Lu Xun, Lu Meng," he said, glancing at each of them in turn as he spoke their names. "Clean up this mess."

He jerked his head back to the clutter of food, disapproval written clearly on his face. Said Generals looked at him in disbelief; Sun Ce's face no longer laughing.

"My Lord," Lu Meng began. "I understand if you place Gan Ning or Ling Tong to clean up the food instead of the maids, but why myself, and Lu Xun and Sun Ce?"

Sun Ce nodded his head energetically, hoping for Lu Meng's argument to save him from the major clean-up session that desperately needed to take place. Lu Xun also looked expectantly at Sun Jian, who gave an impatient sigh.

"Must I state my reasons?" Sun Jian questioned. "This room is in utter chaos. Should not those responsible for its mess be the ones to clean up after themselves?"

"Following your line of reasoning, my Lord, shouldn't only Gan Ning and Ling Tong be considered responsible?" Lu Meng countered. "Why should Lu Xun, Sun Ce and I have to be dragged down with them to clean the room?"

Sun Jian gave off another tired sigh. He didn't want any arguments.

"Sun Ce," he turned and faced his eldest son. "Consider this as punishment for your constant disruption during dinner over the past week." Sun Ce felt his mouth fall, openly gaping at his Father. Sun Jian, however, continued on without a second glance, turning towards Lu Xun and Lu Meng, who were standing next to each other. "I'm sorry to ask you two of this. I had originally only wanted you to oversee Sun Ce, Ling Tong and Gan Ning while they cleaned up the room, but then I thought that if I were already asking you to supervise them, why not have you help them clean up as well?"

Once again, Sun Jian didn't bother waiting for a response to his statement. "Everyone else, unless you want to put forth your efforts and assist in the clean up of the room, I suggest you leave."

With that said, he glared at the Generals whose names were not mentioned during the conservation, waiting until all but Xiao Qiao had retreated from the room. Da Qiao lingered hesitantly, half in and half out of the room.

"Xiao?" she called, stepping just into the room, ready to make a quick escape if she needed.

Xiao gave up her defiant standing and began a mini tantrum of her own.

"This is so unfair!" she ranted, waving her arms to emphasize just how unfair she believed the situation to be. "No one ever tells me anything that goes on around here! I deserve the same show of respect as you, so I don't understand why people insist on never telling me anything! Quit acting like I'm a child!" She turned from shouting directly at Sun Jian to include all of the Generals in her denunciation, looking at the remaining men with accusing eyes. "I'm not that much younger than any of you! And if you'd let me train and practice with you, I could fight just as well! I'm part of the Wu Army; I have my own soldiers and units and everything! Why do you always exclude me?"

Xiao Qiao's outburst did nothing but cause a raging headache to the present Generals. Da Qiao stood nervously, fiddling with her fingers while biting down on her lower lip. Her father-in-law did not look so tolerate at that moment as to deal with Xiao Qiao's emotional histrionic outpour. She pulled at her sister's sleeve once again, trying to convince the younger girl to withdraw from the room.

"Xiao," she said softly. "Let's go back to our room and let Generals Sun Ce, Lu Xun, Lu Meng, Gan Ning and Ling Tong deal with the mess. I'll explain everything there." Although Da Qiao hadn't been there when the food/furniture fight had started, it hadn't taken her long to put two and two together. It was simply too obvious with both Ling Tong and Gan Ning in the same room.

Xiao Qiao finally sighed in defeat, huffing as she turned and walked to the door and muttering something about "_men_" as she did. Suddenly, she spun 180 degrees.

"You had better clean the room good!"

With that, Xiao Qiao stormed from the room, her anxious sister trailing worrisomely after her.

Sun Jian exhaled slowly. He liked the young, energetic girl that Xiao Qiao was, and didn't enjoy seeing her unhappy, even about little things. That problem, however, wasn't something that he had the time to deal with at the moment. He only hoped that Da Qiao's mothering nature could calm her. He faced himself at the other men once again.

"You have until sunrise. I want the entire room to be spotless. If you cannot accomplish that by tomorrow morning, I suggest you prepare yourself." He walked out of the room, closing the door behind him, and just like the night before, sought out the welcoming bliss of sleep.

Immediately after their Lord's retreating footsteps faded from their hearing, Ling Tong and Gan Ning were at each other's throats again.

"Just what the hell did you think you were doing? Coming in and tearing the place up like that! Have you completely lost your mind or something?"

"What do you think pirate?" Ling Tong sneered. "I told you the night before that if you were ever to cross my path again, I would give no hesitation to finish you off for good! Or are you so dense and uneducated that you cannot understand?"

"I swear, boy, that you've got yourself a problem. Do you seriously think that killi-"

"Don't call me 'boy', you lowlife!"

The arguing men had taken up fighting stances against each other for possibly the millionth time. Both held tightened fists out in front of them, waiting for the insult that would allow them the honour of a first strike.

Whatever insult had been prepared in their minds, however, never came, as Sun Ce placed a mollifying hand on each of their shoulders.

"Hey now, calm down," he said, smiling at the two of them as though they were best of friends. "No point in getting into a fight now. We need to get this place cleaned up. I don't think that any of us has ever had a clean up session for anything, so it might take us a little longer than the time that the maids would finish in. So best not to fight and just get the place…cleaned up, okay?"

Ling Tong and Gan Ning glared at each other for a split second longer, before turning their backs with a 'humph!'.

"I don't think that this pirate would be able to help us," Ling Tong stated, glowering at the wall and now refusing to make eye contact with Gan Ning. "I doubt that he's ever had a hard day's work in his life."

Gan Ning growled, but decided to let the comment pass. Lu Meng gave a sigh of relief, hoping to the Heavens that perhaps spending the night in both Ling Tong's and Gan Ning's company wouldn't be as difficult as he thought.

"So, let's get started!" Sun Ce clapped his hands together and looked at his cleaning buddies. "What do we do?"

Lu Meng sighed. That answer was obvious.

"Gan Ning, Lu Xun, you two go and find the cleaning equipment. Try asking one of the maids. If they question you about why you need it, make up some sort of lie. They don't need to know what happened."

Lu Xun nodded and made his way to the door. He pulled the handle and stepped out of the room, waiting for Gan Ning to join him. Said man unfolded his arms and proceeded to follow the boy, but not before throwing a dirty look at Ling Tong. Lu Meng gave another sigh as he noticed the gesture. Ling Tong said nothing.

"We'll start moving the table and chairs out of the way," Lu Meng said, addressing Sun Ce and Ling Tong. "That way, it will be easier for us to clean the floor."

Sun Ce nodded, and began to do as he was instructed. Ling Tong stared at the mess, finally seeing it properly for the first time. The room was beginning to stink. After an exaggerated grimace held over his face, Ling Tong too began following the order.

The task was much harder than expected, and they made little to no progress. None of the Generals wanted to dirty their clothing, which made movement much more reserved than should have been. Then another problem came.

"Hey, what do I do with all of these?" Sun Ce called over to Lu Meng. His arms were full of the larger pieces of the smashed cutlery, as well as a leg of the broken chair.

Lu Meng frowned. There was a lot of frowning to be done these days. He didn't know where unneeded items went when maids were ordered to clean up.

"Just put them over there for now," he instructed, pointing to the corner to the right of the door. Sun Ce nodded and made his way carefully back out of the mess. He dumped the contents in his arms in the indicated corner, and listened as the broken plates broke into even smaller pieces. Lu Meng glared.

Sun Ce threw him an apologetic look, before walking back into the chaos to continue with the clean-up. There was a sudden crash; Sun Ce and Lu Meng whipped their heads towards the origin of the noise. Ling Tong sat on the floor, rubbing his backside which was smeared in sauce.

"Stupid thing!" Ling Tong cursed, picking himself off the floor. The items he had been carrying toppled out of his arms, rendering all the work he had been doing as useless. He let out a frustrated exclamation, but set out to finish the job he had started. Sun Ce began laughing, but stopped once his foot sunk into the body of the dead pig. He let out an aggravated wail and turned to sulking at his misfortune. They continued on with their work.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, the three Generals managed to remove all the chairs, plates, bowls, cups, chopsticks and the table to the clean side of the room. This meant that now, all they had to do was wait for Gan Ning and Lu Xun to return and scrub away the filth that stained the walls and floor.

Sun Ce groaned at the thought of how sore his back would be after the clean-up finished. Their loitering in the room extended to about thirty minutes until the door opened and Gan Ning and Lu Xun appeared holding buckets filled almost to the brim with water and rags.

"What took so long?" Sun Ce questioned, getting up and walking over to them.

"Couldn't find the well," Gan Ning grunted back in reply.

Lu Meng looked at Lu Xun, but the boy just shook his head and put down the two buckets he had been holding.

Tied onto each bucket's handle was a rag, though one bucket had two rags attached to its handle.

"Well," Lu Meng said as he began untying the rags and handing them out. "We know what to do. Sun Ce – you take the right wall; Ling Tong – the left wall; I'll take the middle. Gan Ning, Lu Xun – you two get started on the floor."

With a heavy sigh, both Sun Ce and Ling Tong followed their orders, receiving the rags without question or complaint. Likewise, Gan Ning and Lu Xun did the same.

Each person went over to their designated area and began wiping away at the stains. Aside from the sounds of footsteps walking to and back from the buckets to rinse out the filth, dripping water and the friction between the rags and the wood, all was quiet.  
It continued that way from quite a long period of time. Only about a fifth of the walls in total had been cleaned, and the sauces on the floor seemed absolutely hopeless to wipe away. Everything just seemed to smear out even more. Gan Ning and Lu Xun had each taken one end of the floor, but already the water-filled buckets had turned murky. Lu Meng exhaled slowly and thought about all the work they still had to do.

"Gan Ning, Lu Xun," he called. Both males turned from their duty to look up at him. Lu Xun was on his knees, hands outstretched, while Gan Ning was sitting in some sort of squat. "Could you go change the water?"

Gan Ning let out a groan. "Are you serious? I can't even remember where the well was. It took so bloody long to find in the dark. What do we do with that?" He jerked his head towards the buckets were at the edge of all the mess. He shook his head, blond strands shifting in and out of his eyes. He sighed. "Do you remember, Lu Xun?"

Lu Xun frowned and tried to recall the direction the maid had pointed them in. "Somewhere pass the supply house, I think."

"I'll go," Sun Ce volunteered, dropping the rag onto the floor. "Where did you say it was?"

"Go with him, Lu Xun," Lu Meng advised.

Lu Xun got off the floor, wobbled slightly and then straightened himself out. Sun Ce and Lu Xun picked up two buckets each and walked out of the room.

Lu Xun's call could be heard from the outside corridor. "It's this way, Sun Ce!"

With nothing to do, Lu Meng, Ling Tong and Gan Ning retreated to the clean side of the room and let their muscles relax. That's when Lu Meng noticed another problem.

'What should we do with the meat and vegetables?' he wondered to himself.

True enough; the cold food still lay on the ground, now pale in colour. He looked at it in disgust.

"Gan Ning, where did you find the buckets?" he asked, tone gruff and tired.

The Pirate General looked at him, perplexed. Finally, he caught onto the question.

"Where they keep the garden supplies," Gan Ning answered back.

Lu Meng nodded his understanding and stood up.

"Don't even think about starting another fight." With that, Lu Meng left, leaving the two rivals alone together in the room.

Gan Ning threw a nervous glance at Ling Tong. Now that they were alone, Ling Tong may just be able to have his 'kill-the-pirate' wish come true.

Forging indifference, Gan Ning willed himself to relax, resting his hands against the wall at the back of his head. Ling Tong was debating with himself on whether or not to ignore Lu Meng's warning and attack the other man or, just this once, be good and allow time to pass without waging war. It was a very difficult decision.

Eventually, he settled for the latter, as he didn't want to receive another lecture. He would, no doubt, be called to Sun Jian's office soon, and he didn't want another bad mark to add to his name. With the thought in mind, he allowed himself a moment's peace.

Gan Ning, however, was quite flummoxed at Ling Tong's sudden lack of fight. But, he had to admit, he was rather happy for it.

Unsurprisingly, Lu Meng arrived back in the room first, enjoyed to see that nothing had caused conflict between the Pirate General and the son of the man he had killed. Lu Meng carried with him another two buckets, one empty and one filled only half-way with water.

"Where'd you get the water?" Gan Ning asked.

"I passed Lu Xun and Sun Ce on the way," Lu Meng answered, putting the buckets on the ground and flexing out his muscles. "They've gone back to the well to get more water." He paused, and sighed for what seemed like the hundredth time in the day. "Anyway, let's continue. We probably only have a few hours left. Pick up the food and put them into the empty bucket. That should help speed up cleaning this room."

Ling Tong looked aghast. "What, with our bare hands? Directly?"

"Yes, Ling Tong," Lu Meng glared.

"But that's so…yuck," he finished, rather lamely.

"Perhaps," Lu Meng agreed. "But we have no choice."

Highly disgruntled, Ling Tong crept over and poked at the wrinkled pig. It was cold, clammy and he did not want to touch it again. Gan Ning sighed and picked himself up, walking to where Ling Tong was crouched next to the dead piece of pork.

"Sissy," he teased, half insulting and half playful, before picking up the pig and dropping it into the bucket. He did the same with the other pig, which was missing half its flesh.

Ling Tong glowered at the pirate's shirtless, tattooed back, but was glad that he didn't have to touch the rotting pig. Picking up moulding vegetables was only half as bad.

Amazingly enough, Lu Meng didn't do any work concerning picking up the food, content with leaving the labour to the other two.

The door slid open. Sun Ce and Lu Xun walked in, carrying the buckets was full of clean water, after tipping the previously foul water randomly into the garden beds.

Their job was almost finished.

When all the unwanted food items were finally out of the way, Lu Meng indicated to Gan Ning and Ling Tong to wash their hands in the half-full bucket of water. They complied gratefully.

Picking up their rags once again, they set out to finally accomplish their clean-up task. Over the next two hours, three-quarters of the floor had had the stains removed, about a third of each wall cleaned and the water buckets changed six times. Progressing through another hour, only a small smudge of sauce was left to dirty the floor. There wasn't much left to do with the walls. The only problems were the multiple dents and some marks that refused to come off.

Sun Ce had been rubbing in the same spot for the last eleven and a half minutes. Lu Meng had left with two buckets to put them away as they were almost done with the cleaning. Lu Xun was finishing up with the corner that met between Sun Ce's and Lu Meng's wall. Gan Ning was pretty much done with his area, and was rinsing the last of the water out into the bucket. Ling Tong was helplessly jumping up and down, trying to reach a place on the wall that was just a bit too high for him to clean. Landing back on his feet for the thousandth time, he pouted and sighed.

'This is the last time,' he decided. 'If I can't reach it this time, I'm not cleaning it.'

Readying himself for a final try, Ling Tong pushed his body upwards. And still couldn't reach.

'Damn it!' he thought, frustrated beyond all measure. 'Why the hell was I aiming so high? Idiot pirate isn't that tall.'

Suddenly, he felt himself be lifted, until his eyes levelled out with the irritating mark he had been trying to clean for who knows how long. The rest of his wall was practically sparkling. He gave a small gasp at the unexpected action, and glanced down to see who had lifted him up. His face fell stoic as the points of Gan Ning's blond spiky hair looked up at him. Gan Ning had carried him up and was now resting the younger male entirely on his left shoulder, one hand gripping Ling Tong's red shirt while the other sat across Ling Tong's thighs, holding him steady.

"Thought you needed a little help," Gan Ning muttered, tightening his grip in fear of a violent outburst from the person he was carrying.

"Well, if I did, it wouldn't have been from you," Ling Tong snapped back, but stayed still. He had already hurt himself thanks to one fall; he didn't want another.

"Just hurry up and clean," Gan Ning said. "Then we can go and get some sleep. The sun's probably already started rising."

"You don't need to tell me what to do, especially when we've been doing the same thing for the entire night now."

"There, finally!" Sun Ce's happy exclamation stopped the argument that was taking place. "I finally managed to get that stupid stain from the wa-"

Sun Ce had turned around, ready to pack up the buckets and rags and head off to sleep, but stopped dead when he saw Ling Tong. Sitting on Gan Ning's shoulder.

"Well…" he began. He snickered.

"Oh shut up, Sun Ce," Gan Ning said. "Ling-y boy just needed a little boost to clean that spot on the wall there."

Ling Tong twitched at the nickname, but decided to ignore the conversation and concentrate on getting rid of the only mark left in the room.

Lu Xun, too, had finished off the last of his cleaning and was now tying all the rags back onto the handles of the buckets. It seemed he didn't care at all about the very unbelievable fact that Ling Tong was seated on Gan Ning's shoulder.

Ling Tong cleared his throat, now done with the final task. Sun Ce was now finished with his brief moment of entertainment and was helping Lu Xun carry the final four buckets outside. Ling Tong cleared his throat again, this time getting the ex-pirate's attention.

"Could you put me down now?" he asked, voice impatient.

"Oh, yeah."

Slowly, Ling Tong's feet returned to the ground. He walked over to Sun Ce, who was trying to open the door without putting down the buckets, and crouching, tied the rag onto the handle. He looked back to inspect the work they had done.

The room was utterly bare and glistening. Of course, they had cheated just a bit by dumping all of the broken contents outside, behind the well, but no one needed to know that.

"Job well done, men," Lu Meng praised, having returned from his final trip back from the well. "Now, let's get some sleep."

Everyone nodded in agreement. Lu Xun and Sun Ce walked off one more time in the direction of the well, with Lu Meng watching until their backs disappeared behind the turn of the corridor, before trudging off to his own quarters, a small yet very tired smile on his face. Gan Ning and Ling Tong were left alone.

"Don't make picking me up a habit," Ling Tong mumbled, before he walked past the door and disappeared as well.

Gan Ning stared. Surprisingly, Ling Tong hadn't tried to hit him, hadn't let out any sort of challenge. That was…interesting. Gan Ning couldn't help but let a small smile fall over him as he ran his hand through his spiky hair. Perhaps, just perhaps, Sun Jian's 'be-friends-with-Ling-Tong' mission for him wouldn't end in total tragedy.

--  
Chapter 3 - Major Clean-Up: End  
--

**A/N:** Oh my God, I can't believe. Approx. nine pages, 5,500+ words over nothing! I'm really, really, really sorry for the slow progress of the story; I hate it too! You know how you just start writing, and then you just keep writing the same thing over and over again for no reason? Well, that's kind of what's happening now. I admit, I am kind of angry at myself and my writing 'ability', since it takes forever just to get the story going forward. Damn!  
Anyway, I hope you can be patient with me. The story WILL start getting somewhere next chapter, I promise you, because I don't think I could live with myself if I remain ignorant of Zhou Yu's situation for too long.

On a different note, I was at my friend's house who just happened to be taking a look through my work, and noticed a few very misplaced things. Like, for example, Sun Ce's 'Overload'. Yes, very bad typo there. So, I'm going to take a few days off writing in order to proof-read and edit my work with my friend, +3r!N.

Also, EverKitsune, your suggestion about the Anon. reviews - I can't believe I was so stupid! It took me a while to find the on/off button for it, but I finally did. Yes, Anon. reviews are welcomed. If you would like to share your opinion on the story so far, please do. If it's anything about "Why isn't anything happening?" - I totally agree with you.

On another note (I know, I know - what's with all the notes?), I am making Gan Ning blond is this fanfiction due to Koei's new Dynasty Warriors 6 release. Why? Because I love it. I've also decided to adopt Ling Tong's new look, since I love his hair, but most of the time I will refer to him in his DW5 attire.  
The character description may be a bit confusing for a while, since I'm actually planning on fusing old and new outifts together.

But enough about that. See you next chappie?


	5. Ch 4: Understanding, and A Vow

_--  
_Chapter 4 - Understanding, and A Vow  
--

_She looked, fuming, at the teeth marks on her hand. It had been two days since he had bitten her, and yet the bite mark still had not faded away. He had clenched his teeth around her fingers and refused to let go, even after crimson began pooling from the broken skin. She shrieked, trying to pry her two trapped fingers away from his gripping mouth. Using her other hand, she slapped at his temple repeatedly, while forcing her fingers to dislodge themselves from him._

_She had not touched him again since._

_'Why am I even keeping him alive?' she wondered, unfocusedly looking at his body. The tenseness of his limbs made it clear that he was alert and awake. 'He's played his part in my plan; what other purposes can he be used for? It's dangerous keeping him here like this – what if the other Kingdoms find out?'_

_No, she had to think this through critically. _

_If any member of the Wu Kingdom just happened to find out about her plan, and that she kept prisoner one of their top Generals, immensely unlikely as the thought may be, the possibility of her death by the hands of the Sun Family was pretty much certain. In order for her plan to be put directly into action, she had to take someone of great importance from the Wu Kingdom. Obviously, the Master Strategist was someone of great position and status, but still…_

_Her first thought as to who to have taken would have admittedly been the youngest strategist, Lu Xun. She had wanted to see him so bad; the only person who had ever beaten her outright in a fight._

_And a kid no less! Beaten by a child! Such an assault on her pride was not something that she was willing to take lightly. She wanted to make him pay, so badly.  
But her bumbling buffoon of a husband hadn't taken the young strategist. Instead, he had presented to her the Master Strategist, whose unknown presence in her Kingdom would probably put her plan into motion even faster. She couldn't fault her husband for that. _

_If she killed the bound strategist now, then there would be no evidence of her ever taking part in his kidnapping, no reason for her life to be threatened by the Sun Family. _

_Contrariwise, keeping him here gave her an upper hand in her battle against the Wu Kingdom. He was the only card of value that she had, her trump card; no, the only card she had to play in this dangerous game. _

_He was her captive and hostage; what would Wu dare do to her while she controlled the life of their Master Strategist?_

_The answer was nothing. Except listen and obey her every order, lest they cared not for the life of their dear Zhou Yu._

x-x-x-x-x

Da Qiao knocked softly on the door of Sun Shang Xiang's room, entering when a perky voice gave her permission. The owner of the room was sitting cross-legged on her bed, several scrolls unrolled in front of her, though she paid more attention to the weapon in her hands.

"Hey, Da," Sun Shang Xiang greeted. "What's up?"

"Nothing," Da Qiao answered. "I was just wondering if you've seen Xiao this morning."

"No, I haven't. Why, is something wrong?"

"No, nothing's wrong, not really," Da Qiao gave a sigh. Why, all of a sudden, did Wu have so many problems crashing down on them? "After last night, Xiao was really angry, which was so unlike her. I didn't understand her change in personality so I asked her about it. She became really distressed; wouldn't tell me what was bothering her and stormed off to her room." Sun Shang Xiang was now paying full attention to the petite girl as she recounted her story. "I thought that she would calm down in the morning, and went back to my room. I wanted to check up on her this morning but she wasn't in her room an-"

"Wait," Sun Shang Xiang interrupted. "Don't tell me she's gone missing too…"

Da Qiao shook her head. "No, nothing of the sort."

"What's wrong then?"

"Well," Da Qiao chose her words carefully. "When I pulled back the covers, I saw a few drops of blood on her bed so now I'm –"

"What?" Sun Shang Xiang near screamed. "You mean something's happened to Xiao? We have to go find her!"

Da Qiao almost laughed at Sun Shang Xiang's actions. "There's nothing wrong with Xiao," she said, a bright smile on her face. "It's just that Xiao is finally becoming a woman."

"Oh!" Sun Shang Xiang let out an exaggerated show of understanding. So Xiao Qiao had finally reached her menstruation stages. "What's the problem then? She already knows about what happens right? Someone's taught her about it, right?"

Da Qiao shook her head. "Actually, no one has, which is why I need to find and explain to her about it."

Sun Shang Xiang jumped to her feet. "Let's go then! We've got a lot of teaching to do!"

"Aren't you embarrassed by this sort of thing though?" Da Qiao asked.

"Nah," Sun Shang Xiang answered easily. "It was awkward growing up with Sun Ce, but I managed."

"What do you mean?"

"Well," Sun Shang Xiang paused as memories flew back to her. "I've always been pretty active, I guess, despite how 'unladylike' it was. So when I went through my stages, Sun Ce was always asking why I didn't want to play anymore and kept teasing me. The maids taught me about it, so I was okay. Didn't you get taught?"

"I did," Da Qiao said. "Father wanted for the maids to teach Xiao as well, but I thought that it was too early for her to learn, so I offered to teach her myself when the time came. Admittedly, she is rather late. She's reached seventeen years and has only just begun to bleed."

"It's lucky she married Zhou Yu then, huh?" Sun Shang Xiang mused.

"How so?"

"Cause Zhou Yu is a real calm guy right? Well, most of the time anyway. I wonder what would have happened if Xiao had married Ce and you married Zhou Yu instead."

"Your brother is a man with a very loving nature," Da Qiao said, smiling at the thought. "I don't think much would be different if Xiao and I were to exchange husbands. After all, Sun Ce loves me the way he loves everyone else."

"What do you mean?" Sun Shang Xiang asked, slightly confused.

"He loves you as a sister," Da Qiao explained. "And Sun Quan as a brother. I believe that he also loves me as nothing more than a sister, the way he thinks of Gan Ning or Ling Tong as brothers."

"How did you get to that?"

"Because of the way he looks at me – it's the same way he looks at you."

Da Qiao momentarily forgot about her bleeding sister, as gentle arms enveloped her into their embrace.

x-x-x-x-x

Sun Ce, Gan Ning, Ling Tong, Lu Xun and Lu Meng stood lined up along the entrance to the dining hall. Sun Jian was inspecting the room, running his index finger along the surface of the wall, checking for stains as though on a drill. The men at the door stood by tired and nervous, awaiting a judgement to decide the fate of their day.

Sun Jian walked deliberately slow towards them, a stern look upon his face. The younger men fidgeted anxiously as they waited for the verdict.

"Men," Sun Jian started. The said men straightened to attention. "This clean up…"

Sun Jian paused to add dramatic effect.

"…is excellent. You make me proud, Generals of Wu."

Relieved sighs filled the room, quickly replaced by the yawns of five tired Generals.

"We can sleep now, right?" Sun Ce asked, tears welling up slightly as he struggled to stifle his yawns.

The others murmured in agreement, too bothered to say anything.

Sun Jian only smiled and nodded his consent, watching warmly as the Generals shuffled out of the room.

Drowsily, they walked along the corridors, shoulders slumped and all their energy drained.

Rain fell lightly, causing the ground to become dark with splatters of droplets of water. Gan Ning was fond of the rain; it reminded him of the wild days at sea where water drenched him and he fought energetically with all his might to resist the push of the weather. This rain, however, was nothing like the storms he had battled with in the oceans, which were more fierce and powerful than anything he could ever dream of. Maybe that's what drew him to become a pirate in the first place – the wildness, the adventure, the lack of control he had over his life.

They walked a few more steps before arriving at the turn of an intersecting corridor.

"Well, I'm going to go to the library," Lu Xun said, stopping as he did.

"What, you're kidding?" Gan Ning replied in disbelief. They had barely had no more than a few hours sleep, and the kid wanted to got to the library and do work?

"Yeah, I want go and find a good book and it bring back to my room. I sleep better after reading."

"You're crazy," Sun Ce commented, wanting nothing more than to fall into a comforting bed and sleep like never before.

"Perhaps," Lu Xun replied dryly, and headed off in the general direction of the libraries.

"Do strategists ever sleep?" Gan Ning wondered aloud.

"Would you be so surprised to know that we are, in fact, human?" Lu Meng countered.

Gan Ning blinked and Ling Tong smirked.

"His understanding of the world is so primordial," Ling Tong said, turning his back on the Pirate General and walking off.

Gan Ning growled. Lu Meng sighed at the interaction between the two. It seemed that even after last night, they still hadn't learned.

"Well, I'll be off to my room then," Lu Meng said. "You ought to rest up too."

"Strategists do need to sleep then?"

Lu Meng gave him a half-hearted glare and Gan Ning flashed back a cheeky smile.

"You've got some nerve," Lu Meng finally muttered, before breaking eye contact and strolling away.

Gan Ning just looked on happily. Sun Ce yawned again.

"So, sleep?"

"Yeah, sleep."

Gan Ning and Sun Ce continued on their way, passing the courtyard where Xiao Qiao sat lonesome on a bench, sheltered from the rain by the roof, staring at the ground. Strangely enough, as they neared her, Xiao Qiao flinched and walked off in the opposite direction, totally dismissing Sun Ce's hello wave.

"Well, that was weird," Sun Ce said, peering as the tails of the girl's robes fluttered now of sight.

Gan Ning only shrugged. "Talk to her later."

"Yeah," Sun Ce replied thoughtfully. "I'll get Zhou Yu to go talk to her. Seriously, it's the third day that he isn't here. Something must be up."

No more was said as the men walked to the Generals' sleeping quarters. The long hall had doors both left and right, each representing the room serving as the entrance to each Wu General's private quarters. Women had a separate corridor, after the arrival of the Qiao Sisters.

Gan Ning's room was towards the middle of the hall; Sun Ce's towards the end with his Father and brother.

"I'll see you at dinner, then?" Sun Ce asked, leaning on the door to Zhou Yu's room, which was one door after Gan Ning's and on the opposite wall.

"Yeah, sure."

Sun Ce nodded and turned to let himself into Zhou Yu's room, when Gan Ning's voice called out to him.

"Whatever happened to your room?"

"But look how far away it is!" Sun Ce protested. "Zhou Yu wouldn't care if I slept in his room."

"What are you, lovers?"

"Oh sure, what am I, a woman?"

"Well, he'd be the woman, wouldn't he?"

A mischievous smile lit up Sun Ce's face, though his eyes held no amusement. "Yeah, maybe."

Gan Ning brought his hand up to his hair, shifting through the strands subconsciously as he did when he felt puzzled or bewildered. By the time his fringe had flicked back into his eyes, Sun Ce had disappeared through to Zhou Yu's room.

x-x-x-x-x

Sun Ce waited until he heard the sound of a shutting door from outside before walking forward and collapsing on Zhou Yu's still disarrayed bed. Everything was as he had left it; absolutely nothing had changed. There was no evidence that Zhou Yu had touched his room in the time that Sun Ce had been away.

'Sleep first,' his mind ordered him.

He wanted to obey, really badly, but what if Zhou Yu needed him? What if Lu Xun and Lu Meng were right and his best friend really was missing?  
But Zhou Yu was strong, and smart. If there were ever anything that Zhou Yu could get himself into, then obviously, Zhou Yu could get himself out of it.  
But, still, what if…?

Conflicting thoughts waged war in Sun Ce's head, all playing out different scenarios that seemed as unlikely as the sun falling from the sky.

'Stop!' Sun Ce told himself, forcing all ideas to be pushed back into the corner of his mind. 'You're always telling Zhou Yu to relax, now its time for you to take your own advice.'

Sun Ce clutched the sheets tightly in his fists, and drew them up to his neck, only to fling them off a second later.

'It's too stuffy,' he thought, pulling off his vest-like robe and loosening the sash on his pants.

He flopped onto his back, arms and legs outstretched. There was something wrong with the situation, something he couldn't quite put his finger on.

He drifted off to sleep, restless and uneasy, despite the amount of energy he had previously exerted.

x-x-x-x-x

It had taken Lu Xun a long time, but he finally found a book worth reading. The text had been found when Huang Gai had gone to the outer borders of Jiangnan to assess the damage by a fire outbreak. The fire had erased over half the fields in the area, and many homes had to be rebuilt over from scratch, but the weathered book had managed to escape with very few burn markings.

Lu Xun held it tenderly to his chest, stepping down from the stool he had used to reach the book. Sometimes, he had to curse his height.

He began the journey back to his quarters, which was the room opposite Gan Ning's and next to Zhou Yu's and Ling Tong's.

Rain no longer dripped from the sky, and though he was tired, Lu Xun felt like taking the long way to his room. Walking out into the open garden, Lu Xun began strategically mapping out the direction he wished to proceed in.

'Maybe pass the dining hall to The Pavilion of Cherished Memories, and then to the Garden where Silver Water Flows,' Lu Xun thought, smiling at the remembrance of the conversation he had had with Gan Ning there.

The vegetation that decorated The Pavilion of Cherished Memories was flourishing with colour. The Spring had brought about the blossoming of the peach flowers and orchid blossoms, radiating the idea of high class equity and beautiful girls. The pavilion had been created for the Qiao Sisters, after all.

Continuing onto the Garden where Silver Water Flows with its miniature bridges and artfully placed rocks, designed to restrict the movement of the water. When the garden with bathed in moonlight, the flowing water shone like silver, floating lotuses and tended bamboo concurring with the effect.

He hopped over the bridges like a gleeful child, jumping from one bridge to another. After his spontaneous moment of ingenuous play, Lu Xun rounded off towards the western side of the castle, near the kitchens and servants' quarters.

The walk was long, just as he had intended, and he now wondered why he had ever bothered picking out the book in the first place. Eventually, he ended up at his room. Outside, next to the window, and he really didn't want to be bothered walking all the way around the castle again just to get to his room's door. He sighed.

The corridor that served as the stem to the Generals' quarters was single and isolated from the rest of the castle. The main building, where celebrations and any sort of formal welcoming were held, lay in the centre of the castle border and had been built to three floors. Small pathways jutted out from the main building, making mazes of corridors that lead to other rooms like the libraries and the dining hall. There was no pathway to lead to the servants' rooms. Instead, the area there had been structured into one of the most beautiful of multiple gardens in all of the Three Kingdoms.

Lu Xun sighed. His window was closed from the inside and was just slightly out of his reach. He really cursed his height sometimes.

x-x-x-x-x

Sun Ce stretched, yawned, rolled over, and yawned again, before finally sitting up. He hadn't slept for very long; at least, it hadn't felt very long. His hair was ruffled and strewn lazily over his shoulders. His face was a bit disoriented, and the way he sat with only a single pair of pants covering his skin made him seem slightly clueless.

Nevertheless, Sun Ce knew exactly why he couldn't sleep. He hadn't seen Zhou Yu in the past two days and two nights, and it was really worrying him.

He crawled over to the edge of the bed, groping the floor to find his robe. The silk material came into his hands a few seconds later and he slipped it around his shoulders with ease. His ribbon had been lost somewhere between the folds of the sheets, and he was far too sluggish to be bothered looking. He found it anyway.  
The wooden floor felt cold underneath his feet, his hands somewhat numb as he fumbled to catch all his hair back in its ponytail.

Sun Ce didn't understand. What was it that could have made Zhou Yu leave, without a single mention to anyone? Unless Zhou Yu hadn't been taken of his own free will, and that was the reason that he wasn't here.

The thought sent chills down his spine. The very idea that Zhou Yu could have been taken away, and none of the Wu Generals any wiser was not exactly comforting. He walked off randomly over to the table, peering over the contents to look out the window. There wasn't really anything worth noticing. The scrolls were still piled exactly how they were. Sun Ce grabbed the one nearest to him and unfurled it, but became quickly disinterested at the appearance of complicated 14 and over stroke characters. Bored, he began fiddling with everything, uncaring how displeasured Zhou Yu would be if he ever found out. But Sun Ce was looking for something. A clue maybe, a hidden message, anything that could help him find the location of his sworn brother.

He pulled off the lid to the inkpot and looked in, but everything was only black. Picking up one of the thicker brushes, he looked around for any sort of parchment for him to scribble on, conceding with a torn piece of paper from an unimportant-looking document. Without thinking, he moved his hand to his right, expecting for the brush to dip straight into the inkpot and was surprised to be met with thin air.

To any other person, this would have been a stupid thing to do, since it was obvious that the inkpot sat at the front of Sun Ce, not to his right. But Sun Ce knew for a fact that Zhou Yu never kept the inkpot in front of him. Even his cleaning maids knew not to tamper with the settings he placed for his equipment. After spending so much time laying in wait for Zhou Yu to finish whatever work he was doing, Sun Ce was also beginning to adopt the habits of paraphernalia placing.

'Inkpots should never go in front of you because the extension of the hand means that it will take longer for the work to be completed,' he thought randomly to himself, vaguely remembering what Zhou Yu had said to him.

Zhou Yu was so strict when it came to the tidiness of a room. Everything had to have a place, and the inkpot's place could have been anywhere except for in front of him.  
Sun Ce moved the inkpot away from the window, thinking that Zhou Yu would have a hissy fit if he came back to his room to find things had been rearranged.

No, what was he thinking? Not _if_ Zhou Yu came back, _when_ he came back.

Sun Ce sighed and shook his head, and heard the clink of something that just escaped his eyes fall onto the floor. Instantly, he looked down but saw only the smooth boards of the floor. He frowned, bending his knees into a crouch. There was something solid, but small, under the table.

'It must have been jammed against the table and inkpot,' he reasoned. 'It probably fell down when I moved the inkpot.'

The table wasn't very low, but it was wide. Whatever object it was that had been hidden behind the inkpot had dropped through the gap between the wall and the table, and currently, was out of Sun Ce's reach. Being the determined man that he was, Sun Ce dropped himself lower, stretching out his hand until it collided with the wall. After a few tries, his hand finally came into contact with the object and as excited as he was, a feeling of suspicion and pessimism was raised in him.

The item in his hand was thin, cold and sharp. Almost fearfully, he pulled his hand to the light; his conjecture confirmed. What lay in his hand was a small thin dagger, finely shaped and bearing a single character on its hilt; Wei.

He stared at the dagger, shock expressed clearly in his eyes. What was a dagger belonging to Wei doing in the Wu Kingdom? How could a person from Wei even enter the Wu Kingdom without anyone noticing? Was Wei planning on something? Had the plan already been put into action? What if Zhou Yu were somehow part of that plan? If Zhou Yu were part of the plan, was he part of it willingly, or was something forcing him to take action against his own Kingdom?

No, there was no way that Zhou Yu would ever betray Wu, even if his life depended on it. This meant that something had to have happened to him. Stupid him! Sun Ce cursed himself. If Zhou Yu had been taken away due to force, kidnapped through the doings of another Kingdom… That thought sent Sun Ce into a spiralling rage of emotion. Zhou Yu's disappearance had been noticed two days ago, which may have meant that Zhou Yu had spent two days in enemy's hands. Anything could have happened to him in that time! He may have been threatened, tortured…killed…

No! There was no way that that was going to happen! Zhou Yu was too good for that; Zhou Yu was Zhou Yu…

Sun Ce let forth a frustrated scream at the idea that while he had been complaining about cleaning and bickering with his sister, Zhou Yu had been going further and further away from him.

"Sun Ce?"

He perked his head up and whipped around to see where the voice had come from.

"Lord Sun Ce!"

It was coming from the window, outside.

He ended up climbing on top of the table to take a look at who was calling him. His eyes met up with Lu Xun, standing underneath the window of his room, on his tippy-toes with his neck stretched high. He was carrying a book in his hand and still wearing the clothing from the morning. Sun Ce had a guess that the young boy had just come back from the library, though why he was standing outdoors near the opposite wall to the door was slightly puzzling. Not that Sun Ce cared; not right now.

"Is something wrong, Sun Ce?" Lu Xun's voice was really concerned.

"Yes!" he screamed, louder and more aggressive than he wished. He saw Lu Xun wince. "Something has gone wrong like hell! I can't believe how stupid I was! Dammit!"

Mentally, he cursed himself a million times as he said the words, punching his hand onto the table to emphasize his point. Lu Xun stood nervously, wondering what could have happened in order for Sun Ce to have such a reaction.

"What are you doing out there anyway?" Sun Ce asked, trying to calm himself down before scaring the young boy away.

"I was just taking a walk and ended up here. I heard someone scream from Zhou Yu's room, and it sounded like your voice."

"Oh."

There was an awkward pause.

"Do you want help getting up then?"

Lu Xun blushed slightly from embarrassment, as he knew that he couldn't have scaled the wall by himself to reach the window, but nodded. Sun Ce extended a hand. Lu Xun passed him book first, which he threw carelessly onto the tabletop and then reached down again.

The climb was easy. Sun Ce's grip was firm and Lu Xun supported most of his weight on the wall, walking sideways. Sun Ce leaned back to make room for Lu Xun on the table as he was dragged up, until the boy was inside the window's frame.

The first thing Lu Xun did when he entered was to pick up the book and place it delicately on the table, before crawling off the furniture. Sun Ce followed him, standing and holding out the knife.

"What do you make of this?" he asked, in a deadly, serious tone.

Lu Xun examined it closely, looking up questioningly at the elder of the two as he read the character inscribed on the hilt.

"Why is the symbol of Wei embedded here?" he demanded to know. "Where did you find this?"

Sun Ce gazed at the window, and waited for Lu Xun to pick up the pieces himself. It took the Wu prodigy no longer than forty-five seconds.

"What? Master Zhou Yu was taken by Wei?" The combined question and outburst came in a hurried rush from Lu Xun. "He's been missing for two days! Was it truly an act from Wei that has taken him from us? How come no one has noticed anything? Surely someone had to have been around! The castle is protected at all times – how could anyone have gone in and taken away a senior General without anyone seeing anything? And for two days!"

Lu Xun was now repeating his words, as he tried to wrap his mind around what Sun Ce and the dagger was implying. He stopped talking and began arranging and analysing the information.

Zhou Yu had been missing for two days; not a single person knew where he was or why he was gone. Then, Sun Ce had found a knife somewhere in Zhou Yu's room. Lu Xun had taken a guess that the knife had appeared around the window, as Sun Ce heard him quite clearly. The knife bore the symbol of Wei, which meant that at some point, soldiers of Wei had arrived in Zhou Yu's room, dropping the knife and disappearing without a trace, along with Zhou Yu. It only took commonsense to realise that Zhou Yu had been taken by Wei.

"We must inform Lord Sun Jian at once!" Lu Xun cried out.

Sun Ce nodded. "And kick the asses of those Wei rascals!"

Lu Xun didn't even care or bother about correcting the profanity that Sun Ce was using. Hell, even he wanted to pound or stab relentlessly at Wei for forcing onto them a situation they didn't have the current military prowess to handle. Both males ran out the door at the same time, their destination pictured clearly in their mind.

Sun Jian needed to know; they needed to devise a course of action to retrieve Zhou Yu back from the clutches of the men of the North.

'Wait for me, Zhou Yu,' Sun Ce thought as he ran, almost tripping over Gan Ning in his rush. 'I'll get you back, I'll find you. I won't let you stay away from me for long, not in the hands of those bastards. Just wait for me – I won't leave you.'

--  
Chapter 4 - Understanding, and A Vow: End  
--

**A/N:** Hey yo's! I don't know if this chapter counts as moving on, but I _think_ we're getting somewhere. I do realise that I've been jumping around pretty much everywhere with this story, but I'm sure that I'll end up using that jumping at some time or another. I suppose that from this chapter alone you'll be able to work out the major pairing that I'm aiming for (the whole kidnapping and saving thing kinda gives it away, ya?).

Shuwazi, I AM NOT (Repeat: AM NOT!) going to make Lu Xun "cuter" just for you. His personality plays a big part in my story, and making him feminine just doesn't cut it. Sorry to disappoint.

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed.


	6. Ch 5: Of Orders

**A/N: **Thanks to everyone for their silent support! Lol, to those who added this story onto their Alert lists, I thank you. This is the longest chapter I've written so far, with almost 7,000 words. I'm really glad I finally got the next chapter up. I know that not a lot has been happening, but to anyone keeping an eye on the story anyway, keep that eye on it!

Note: Thanks be to LiuBei1986 for correcting me on Wei's capital city. At first, I thought it to be Luo Yang since that's what was written on this map I saw.  
Well, onto the next chapter!!

_--  
_Chapter 5 - Of Orders  
--

_He felt eyes, and he knew so much better than to let his guard down. He had been blinded, and the time he had spent with his heart pounding and his head swirling was unknown. Not only that, but his butt hurt from sitting for so long.  
Soft padding steps flittered softly in his ear, growing louder with each step. The sound stopped, and was replaced with a rhythm of breathing, bouts of air blowing against his face, almost undetectable._

_A deep growl emitted from his throat, his teeth baring slightly. Hopefully, his reaction had given whoever had been in front of him a clear message that he did not enjoy intrusion of his personal space. He had tried to make that quite obvious with his first biting response at being touched by foreign hands. Perhaps his message had been perceived; because seconds later, the slight breathing could no longer be felt and footsteps were heard once again. A sharp bang rang in his ears soon afterwards; the sound of a door shut with a forceful amount of power. He waited a few minutes longer, trying to determine if he could hear any sort of sound or distinguish any sort of movement. Everything was quiet and still, as observed by his remaining senses._

_As soon as he determined that there was no one left in the room, he once again began pulling at his restraints. Whatever held his hands was thick, tied tight around his wrists and scratched at his skin. His tied hands were then bound to something else, raised above his head and secured to some sort of post. Nothing else was tied down, luckily for him. _

__

Slowly, he flexed himself out, trying to get feeling and sense of touch back to his limbs. His legs and backside tingled uncomfortably as he lifted himself up into a kneeling position. His ankles hurt particularly at suddenly having to support his weight. He pressed the back of his against whatever it was he was seated against, while doing his best to warm up his hands.

_He needed to know where he was, what his surroundings were and then make his way back to Jian Ye. _

_He tried pushing himself upwards, but fell back instantly. The position his arms were in didn't help the matter. But he was stubborn, more so than others would realise, and he was instantly up and trying again. Again, he collapsed back._

_He leaned his head heavily on what he guessed was some sort of post, arching his back in attempts to stretch out his body. The force of the arch pressed his head firm against the post, and he could feel himself slid upwards slowly.  
__Unconsciously, his fingers reached down as far as they would go, trying to come into contact with the rest of his body. Now, he was supporting all his weight on his toes, arching his body in such a way that his back was hurting. His head pushed back heavily, stopping himself from sliding down and slowly inched his way up. He was really pushing the limits of his flexibility._

_Just when he thought that there was no possible way for him to keep climbing without seriously damaging his spine, his fingers softened against the material covering his eyes. His determination grew ten-fold._

_He pulled his feet slightly closer, and hefted himself up just a bit more. His fingers traced down to his nose then recoiled and hooked around the eye-constricting material. He released the tension in his body, and flopped back down, pulling away the blindfold._

_The immediate light was bedazzling…_

x-x-x-x-x

Gan Ning leapt backwards, almost falling down as Sun Ce rushed past him in a frenzy, Lu Xun following close behind.

'What the hell?' his mind asked, catching hold of the frame of his door as he stabilized himself.

He had changed out of red pants, and was now wearing white of the same baggy style. He had also on his former pirate's vest, just got old time's sake, dark red and outlined with black. His bells were tied to one side on his sash.

Just then, Lu Meng emerged from his room and joined him out in the corridor.

"I thought I heard running footsteps," the older man said. "Did something happen?"

"I don't know," Gan Ning replied slowly, thinking back to the rush that was Sun Ce and Lu Xun. "Sun Ce and Lu Xun just suddenly ran out of Zhou Yu's room. Almost bashed into me the way they were going."

"Zhou Yu's room?" Lu Meng asked, furrowing his brow at the mentioned room. "What were they doing in there?"

"Dunno," Gan Ning said, slanging his words. "Sun Ce went in there to sleep instead of his own room. I don't know how Lu Xun got in there."

Lu Meng's frown stayed in place and he walked over to Zhou Yu's room and looked inside.

'Did Lu Xun go through the window?' he wondered, as he spied the window with its opened shutters.

He shuffled over to the window and noticed the messy table; obvious signs of Sun Ce's doings. Everything looked normal enough. The trees were lined up neatly and trimmed, the wind blowing softly at the leaves. The verdure was flying high, pushed upward by air. There was one leaf that looked particularly big. It covered part of an entire branch and seemed to be folding over itself.

Lu Meng stared intently. That was not so normal.

"What you looking at, old man?"

The gruff voice startled Lu Meng and he turned around in quick reaction, unconsciously swinging his hand up to try and punch whoever it was behind him.

Luckily, the person ducked, and his fist hit nothing but air. Gan Ning stood up slowly and held his hands out in surrender.

"Sorry man; didn't mean to scare you," he said, jokingly.

Lu Meng grunted in reply. "Careful of who you sneak up on."

Gan Ning nodded and moved to join his fellow General by the window.

"So what's so interesting out there that you didn't even notice me behind you?" he asked, peering out and trying to find what it was that Lu Meng had been looking at.

Lu Meng pointed at the tree, doing his best to pinpoint exactly what was out of place.

"See that there?"

Gan Ning moved his eyes to where Lu Meng was pointing.

"Near the top of that tree, towards the right; something's not right there."

"What's not?" Gan Ning asked, having not yet seen the cloth-like material that was floating in the wind, disguised by the greenery. "Everything seems pretty normal to me."

Lu Meng sighed and shook his head.

"I'll just grab the damn thing and show it to you myself," he grumbled, backing away from the window.

Suddenly, Gan Ning's eyes apparently locked onto what Lu Meng was pointing at.

"That's what you're looking at right?" he asked excitedly, pointing in the exact same direction as Lu Meng before. "That, right there."

Lu Meng squinted his eyes, and then nodded.

"I'll get it then."

Before Lu Meng could even set forth a counter, Gan Ning was halfway out the window, dropping to the ground in the mere seconds that followed. He strolled leisurely over to the tree on which the material had been caught, trying to fly away with the wind. Lu Meng frowned from his view at the window. He couldn't believe the immaturity of the grown man at times.

Gan Ning had now reached the base of the tree, and was looking for the best way to climb up and retrieve the piece of camouflaged material. In order to even reach the nearest branch, he needed some sort of boost.

"Oi! Lu Meng!" he called back over his shoulder. "I need some help here! Give me a boost, would ya?"

Gan Ning's voice carried all the way to the window where Lu Meng was standing, and the older man sighed again. Gan Ning stood impatiently, huffing as Lu Meng took his slow and precious time out of the window and to the tree.

"Took you long enough," Gan Ning grumbled, as Lu Meng finally reached him.

Lu Meng ignored the comment and looked up to the tree. He could see the piece quite clearly now, caught onto a sharp twig near the tip of the head of the tree. The tree looked quite fragile towards the top, and he wasn't sure if it would be able to hold their weights, even if it was Gan Ning alone.

"Are you sure that will hold you?" he asked, looking seriously at Gan Ning.

"What, you think I'm fat now?" replied the pirate, jokingly.

Lu Meng rolled his eyes and continued to make a mental assessment on the impromptu task before them. The branch to which the material clung just seemed so weak, swaying in the direction of the rather gentle breeze.

'It won't hold,' he thought to himself. He turned around and voiced his opinion to Gan Ning.

"You seriously think?" Gan Ning questioned. The reply came in the form of a nod.

As the two debated the best way to grab the material, Sun Quan and Xiao Qiao walked silently around the corner, awkwardly distanced away from each other.

"Yo, Xiao Qiao!" Gan Ning shouted, waving one arm wildly to beckon the young girl over. "Think you can come help me and lend me a hand?"

Xiao Qiao gave a small smile and shuffled over. Her earlier behaviour fled Gan Ning's mind, as all he could think about was the task he had brought on himself.

Sun Quan trotted along beside her, careful not to get too close.

"Did you need help with something?" Xiao Qiao asked, her voice unnaturally quiet.

Lu Meng deepened his frown. "We can't ask Xiao Qiao of this," he argued. "It's too risky. The tree may not support her weight either. I don't want to think of what will happen if Da Qiao or Zhou Yu found out that you put Xiao Qiao into a dangerous situation."

At these words, Xiao Qiao's eyes flared, and she stepped up determinedly with her back straight and her head held high.

"Did you need something, Gan Ning?"

"Yeah, that's if Old-y here will let you help me out," he answered, jerking his thumb at Lu Meng.

Xiao Qiao ignored the grunt of annoyance that emitted from Lu Meng and nodded.

"I'll help. What do you need me to do?"

Gan Ning smirked, most of it directed at Lu Meng, and explained the situation to Xiao Qiao. He pointed out what it was he wanted her to retrieve for him and once again, she nodded her understanding.

"Wait," Sun Quan interjected, worried lines crossing over his face. "Are you sure this is a good idea? Xiao Qiao, what if you fall?"

"I'll be fine," she reassured, already climbing up onto Gan Ning's shoulders and reaching for the nearest branch. "It's only a little climb; what can go wrong?"

"That's the spirit," Gan Ning encouraged, as Xiao Qiao's legs lifted off him and dangled in the air.

One mighty swing later, Xiao Qiao sat straddling the branch, before slowly and carefully moving to stand on her feet. Both Lu Meng and Sun Quan cringed slightly whenever a branch lowered underneath her weight, watching as she climbed higher and higher. The foliage of the tree covered most of her, keeping her modest. It was a good thing that her body was so small and lithe, able to slip skilfully through the boughs and twigs. Gan Ning called to her continuously with shouts of support, doing his best to keep track of her through the immense greenery.

After a few agonizing minutes in which the young girl did nothing but ascend up the tree, Xiao Qiao was almost within arm's reach of the material. The problem was that she needed just a bit more height in order to reach the material. She was sitting carefully on the branch, motionless, fearful of accidentally breaking the branch, which was quivering slightly underneath her. The fingers of her right hand were stretched out to their limits, trying to come into contact with the material. Her left hand was pressed up against the bark, doing her best to hold herself steady.

"Come on Xiao!" Gan Ning shouted, with his hands cupped around his mouth. "Just a little further and you got it!"

The men on the ground heard a small grunt and the rustling of leaves, before a hand stuck out of the branches, gripping the, as could be seen now, green and brown material.

"Yep! I got it, all right!" came Xiao Qiao's happy voice.

Lu Meng's apprehensive expression softened, Gan Ning cheered and Sun Quan released a breath he didn't realise that he was holding.

Xiao Qiao allowed herself a small grin and momentarily forgot the troubles that had turned her reclusive during the morning. As she scanned for the best way down, she didn't hear the diminutive sound of breaking bark, nor her own scream as gravity suddenly pulled her down through thin air.

Whatever arbitrary game fate was playing, it didn't do Xiao Qiao any good as she missed every single branch that could have impeded her path to the ground and serious injury.

Lu Meng, Gan Ning and Sun Quan all watched in horror as what they could see of Xiao Qiao and her shadow fall.

"Xiao Qiao!"

All three men sprung into immediate action, running to the area where they thought that Xiao Qiao would land. The problem was the branches – the damned branches were in the way of letting them see, yet they couldn't be in the way of Xiao Qiao and her distance to the ground.

Lu Meng, Gan Ning and Sun Quan quickly formed a semi-circle around the tree, each holding out their hands up high in the hopes of catching the young. Blind panic was running rampant through their eyes, with Xiao Qiao's scream echoing through their minds.

The fall took a surprisingly long time, and it was only with sudden realisation that Gan Ning had noticed the Sun Quan laid in the crumpled mess on the ground with Xiao Qiao sitting dazed on his back.

"Xiao Qiao!"

Both Gan Ning and Lu Meng raced the two very short steps that brought them to the sides of Sun Quan and Xiao Qiao.

"Shit! Are you guys okay?"

Still slightly dazed from her fall, Xiao Qiao didn't answer Gan Ning's question, but instead, held out what was still in her hand.

"This is what you wanted?" she asked in a slightly stupefied voice.

Lu Meng took the material from Xiao Qiao, which was little more than a roughly sewn piece of fabric. As Lu Meng examined it, Xiao Qiao regained the strength in her legs and awkwardly got off Sun Quan. The squashed Sun Quan gave a soft grunt, climbing to his knees while shaking his head to try and be rid of dizziness.

"I'm so sorry, Lord Sun Quan!"

"No, it's okay," Sun Quan held a soft smile at the distressed girl. "You're not hurt, right?"

"I'm fine. Are you?"

The smile stayed on Sun Quan's face and Xiao Qiao couldn't help but grin back at him, cheeks slightly blushing.

Gan Ning held back a laugh. The situation had been anything but funny, but with everyone fine, the relief that was flooding through him made him want to laugh. He left Xiao Qiao and Sun Quan checking each other for injuries and made his way over to Lu Meng, who was looking more disgruntled than usual.

"What's up?" he called, peeking behind Lu Meng's shoulder to see what was on the cloth Xiao Qiao had almost risked her life for.

The background of the cloth was green, with red, blue and brown lines stitched into it, roughly forming some strange picture made of twisting and straight lines.

"What is it?"

"You can't tell?" the disapproval in Lu Meng's voice couldn't have been mistaken for anything else.

"Looks like a bunch of lines joining up together. What's it supposed to be, then?"

Lu Meng sighed in irritation, pulling at the cloth until not a single crease could be seen.

"It's a map," he explained.

"Oh." Gan Ning's face resumed a looking of understanding. "A map of what?"

Lu Meng resisted the sudden urge to yell, scold and possibly hit the ex-pirate for being so stupid. With all the campaigns they had been on, Gan Ning still couldn't recognise what was on the map?

"It's a map which shows the path that needs to be taken to journey from Cheng Du straight to here."

x-x-x-x-x

It wasn't long until Lu Xun found himself running at the open door of Sun Jian's office, following closely behind Sun Ce with the dagger still in his hand.

"Father, there's something I need to talk to you about!" Sun Ce urgently said, stopping in front of Sun Jian's desk.

The Tiger of Jiang Dong turned away from the person he was currently speaking to, sharply eyeing his first son.

"Sun Ce," he said calmly. "Do you not see that I am currently busy? Speak to me another time."

"No, it's fine." Ling Tong quickly stood to attention, glad for any reason to excuse himself from Sun Jian's lecturing. "My Lord, please call me back when you have spare time on your hands. We can continue our discussion then."

'Even though you've been saying the same things over and over again ever since he got here.' It was lucky that Sun Jian couldn't read his thoughts.

Ling Tong bowed respectfully and made his way to the door, when the forms of Gan Ning and Lu Meng suddenly appeared and blocked his way. He glared hatefully at the ex-pirate and moved to push past him when Lu Meng held out an arm.

"Stay here," his senior ordered.

Ling Tong clicked his tongue in annoyance before turning his back on Gan Ning and walking to stand besides Sun Ce.

"So, what's up?" he asked loudly, question directed at everyone. "Why has everyone come here all of a sudden?"

Sun Jian nodded to silently say that he too wanted to hear the answers to Ling Tong's questions.

"My Lord," Lu Xun began, taking a step forward so that he was also in line with Sun Ce and Ling Tong. "Sun Ce and I have come across a certain item which has led us to believe that our Lord Zhou Yu has been abducted by the Wei forces."

With a small flourish, he held out the knife that was in his hands, balancing the blade loosely on his palms.

"Wait!"

Everyone turned and faced Gan Ning, who had made the rather obnoxious call.

"The Wei forces? You mean Cao Cao?" he questioned.

"Obviously Cao Cao," Ling Tong spoke, an arrogant tone in his voice. "Who do you think controls the Wei Army? Or has the little brain you have finally dried up and rotten into nothing?"

Gan Ning took a deep breath and ignored Ling Tong, receiving an approving nod from both Lu Meng and Sun Jian.

"It's just that we found this piece of cloth that shows the way from Cheng Du to Jian Ye," he said, as Lu Meng walked forward and held out the cloth along with the Wei dagger. "Cheng Du is Shu's capital, right?"

"I think that it would be deemed more logical to believe that our Lord Zhou Yu was taken from us by Shu's hands," Lu Meng continued on. "Gan Ning and I found this," he lifted the cloth so that it was within everyone's view, "directly outside Zhou Yu's room, caught on a tree branch that stood not so far away from the window."

"No way!" Sun Ce cried out. "Lu Xun and I found the knife _in_ Zhou Yu's room. It has the symbol of Wei on it, so it must be Wei that took him!"

"But the map shows the way from Cheng Du to here!" Gan Ning argued, walking up to Sun Ce with confident strides. "If it were Wei who had taken Zhou Yu, why would Cao Cao want him to be taken to Cheng Du? Cao Cao and Liu Bei are enemies; there's no reason for him to have anything to do with Shu!"

"Unless Wei and Shu are working together on some plot to overthrow us," Ling Tong suggested.

There was silence as everyone stood and absorbed the concept of Ling Tong's proposal. Suddenly, there was an uproar as the Generals in the room raised their voices in order to make themselves be heard.

"There's no way that can-"

"Just what the hell are you sugg-"

"That idea is actually quite-"

"Um, could everyone just calm down for a mom-"

"How do you expect me to be calm? Zhou Yu could have been taken by either Wei or Shu and-"

"Oh, shut up would ya? You're all making my ears go-"

"Who cares about your ears you stupid pi-"

"Ling Tong! This is no time for a fig-"

"-rate? What good are your ears?"

"Just what the hell is your problem!? Do you enjoy getting yourself into trouble or some-"

"Really, Gan Ning, do you have to go around picking fights-"

"I'm not the one picking the fight. What do you care anyway, Lu X-"

"SHUT UP!"

There was silence once more as bickering stopped and all turned to face Sun Jian. Fighting to compose himself after the sudden and rather uncouth outburst, the Wu Lord straightened himself and ordered his fellow Generals to control their behaviour and sort themselves out into a line. His instruction was received and followed without complaint, though it was obvious that there was displeasure among some of the Generals.

"Thank you," Sun Jian said, after a moment of stifled silence. "Lu Meng, Lu Xun, please narrate for me your stories; Gan Ning, Sun Ce, allow them to speak, and Ling Tong, don't think you can deceive me. Stay here."

Ling Tong felt eyes on him.

'Damn it,' he thought. 'What does it matter if I'm here anyway? Let me leave already.'

Sun Jian nodded. "Now, Lu Xun, since you and Sun Ce came here first, please go ahead."

Lu Xun gave a quick nod and briefly locked eyes with Sun Ce. The latter smiled lightly in support. Lu Xun breathed in deeply once before recounting his story, starting from when he met Sun Ce from outside Zhou Yu's window. This brought about the need to understand what Sun Ce was doing before coincidentally meeting up with Lu Xun. As Sun Ce told his part of the meeting, Sun Jian listened patiently, concentrating on every word that came from his son's mouth, everyone else doing the same. By the time he finished, even Lu Meng and Gan Ning could not deny that Wei was a very likely suspect in relation to who could have taken Zhou Yu.

"Very well," Sun Jian said, after spending some time assessing the story told by Lu Xun and his own son. "Lu Meng, Gan Ning, please add what you have to say to the story."

It took much longer for Gan Ning and Lu Meng to add in their part, due the constant argument over what had occurred. Both, however, were smart enough to leave out the part where Xiao Qiao almost risked her life. They skittered around to leave out the how exactly they retrieved the cloth, but luckily, weren't asked to clarify. Once they had finished narrating their part, everyone, including Ling Tong, looked towards Sun Jian for his opinion.

"Call every General into the central planning area immediately, and be discrete about it. Don't let anyone other than those who need to know hear."

With a wave of his hand, he dismissed them. He waited until everyone had left the room, before getting up and making his way over to the strategy room.

x-x-x-x-x

Da Qiao couldn't believe herself. She had totally forgotten about her sister, and had instead accidentally fallen asleep within Sun Shang Xiang's arms. But that wasn't what was bothering her. There was feeling beginning to stir in her chest, something that was akin to what she had felt when she had first laid eyes on her husband.

Attraction; and something else that made her heart go warm and fuzzy.

It scared her slightly. After all, this was Sun Shang Xiang that the feelings of warmth were directed to; her husband's sister, her sister-in-law.

If these feelings grew into anything else other than compassion and understanding for the taller woman, then she'd be in trouble. Just how much trouble it would cause her trying to hide this startling mood she was in, she didn't know. But she hoped, with all her heart, that these feelings were only temporary and wouldn't last for long.

She didn't want to betray her husband, even if she knew that Sun Ce didn't love her in that way. She could tell just from the looks that Sun Ce sent her way. Her husband adored her, and would give in to her every need, but in a way that an older brother would spoil a younger, and very cute, little sister. There was nothing that she could do to change the way that Sun Ce looked at her, the way he felt about her.

She turned herself and looked at Sun Shang Xiang's sleeping form, relaxed and seemingly at peace. She reached out with a single hand and placed it on Sun Shang Xiang's shoulder.

"Hey, Shang Xiang?" she shook the shoulder softly, and the figure underneath stirred quietly. "Are you awake?"

Da Qiao's pink skirt made a rustling sound against the blanket as she shifted to look at Sun Shang Xiang's face. There was a red patterned line along the curve of Sun Shang Xiang's neck where her shirt had pressed in deeply, leaving small marks. The Sun heiress grumbled slightly as she was disturbed in her sleep, turning her head to the other side and tangling her short hair even more.

"Sun Shang Xiang," Da Qiao whispered, though wishing that she was speaking louder. "Wake up. Your arm's around me and I can't get up. Sun Shang Xiang…"

The last name Da Qiao spoke came out in a sort-of whine, the sound stretched out into long notes.

"Mmm…but it's so comfortable like this," Sun Shang Xiang spoke, voice still drowsy with sleep. The arm that had embraced Da Qiao in a hug and never left their position tightened their hold, as though refusing to let go.

Da Qiao blushed slightly, glad that Sun Shang Xiang had never bothered to open her eyes.

"Shang Xiang, come on," her voice had a little more confidence in it, now that she knew that Sun Shang Xiang was half-awake. "It's past midday – I've slept for too long now. Wake up."

Sun Shang Xiang gave out a groan, and peeked open one eye.

"I'm awake now," she muttered. "Happy now?"

"I will be once you get your arm off me," Da Qiao played lightly, now pulling away the flower clips that had drooped down her hair during her sleep.

Sun Shang Xiang moaned again and released her hold on the petite girl, stretching her arms up as she did so. Da Qiao smiled and sat up, rolling off Sun Shang Xiang. She climbed off the bed and began patting down her clothes, loosening out the creases. She walked over to Sun Shang Xiang's dressing table, picked up the comb and began brushing her hair. It took her no less than five minutes to neaten herself out and look as perfect as she had before unintentionally falling asleep.

"Is looking pretty really all that it's cut out to be?" Sun Shang Xiang asked, having gotten herself out of bed and was lounging around near the dressing table.

"It is not looking pretty that ought to be practiced," Da Qiao replied, laughing softly at Sun Shang Xiang's comment. "But etiquette and panache are needed for women to survive in such an age, as well as use of mind and logic." She turned around and faced Sun Shang Xiang's rather offended expression. "Though strength of arms and ability to fight are probably just as good," she added after an afterthought and seeing her sister-in-law's face. She laughed.

"I suppose," Sun Shang Xiang grudgingly agreed, before being caught up in the laughter and giggling along.

The laughter continued, and eventually, they didn't remember exactly what it had been that they were laughing about. There was a knock at the door.

"Come in," Sun Shang Xiang said after the chuckling had subsided.

Her bedroom door opened and Sun Quan stepped in.

"Father wants to see us," he announced. "I received a message from Lu Meng telling us to meet in the central planning area. Da Qiao too," he added, after noticing her presence.

"Okay, we'll meet you there."

"He wants to see us now. Lu Meng says it's urgent." At this, Sun Quan frowned. "Be fast."

There was a swish of robes and the snap of the door as Sun Quan left the room for the girls to prepare themselves.

"I wonder what's going on," Sun Shang Xiang mused.

"Well, shall we go and find out?"

Sun Shang Xiang flashed Da Qiao a gentle smile, the latter's heart beating faster as the smile was sent her way.

x-x-x-x-x

Lu Xun and Lu Meng arrived first in Sun Jian's view as he waited for the attending of the Generals to arrive. Huang Gai came next, followed so closely by Taishi Ci that he almost closed the door on him. Sun Ce walked through the door afterwards, with Xiao Qiao, Sun Quan and Zhou Tai coming in next respectively. Da Qiao and Sun Shang Xiang entered soon after, accompanied by Gan Ning whom they had met on their way. Ling Tong was the last to be on scene, closing the door behind him as he spied everyone else's present face.

The meeting started immediately, with both Sun Jian and Sun Ce refusing to be distracted by anything else. By the time all the information had been processed, it became no doubt to anyone that Wei and Shu were working together to bring them down by kidnapping their Master Strategist. Or, that was the way that everything appeared.

"I can't believe that this has gone unnoticed by us," Xiao Qiao anguished, almost unbelieving that this was the cause of her husband's disappearance.

Sun Quan shot her a worried look, one that was completely missed by her.

"I say," Sun Ce began, eyeing the table darkly, as though it was what had stolen away his best friend. "That we storm both Shu and Wei and demand to have Zhou Yu back. What they have done is completely unforgivable, daring to play as low as to do something like this. I won't tolerate it! We'll take Zhou Yu back no matter what! They can try and do whatever the hell it is they want; there's no way I'm backing down! Are you with me?!"

There was a scream of approval from most of the Generals, as they too shared a main outlook that Zhou Yu was their own sworn brother, even if Zhou Yu was a bit uptight.

"Wait!"

Lu Xun's voice rang clear, but Sun Ce, ready for anything and seeking revenge, didn't bother to listen.

"Quiet down!"

Lu Meng strived to quiet the enthusiastic Generals, this time, producing a better reaction. Not everyone looked his way, but the hollering did cease somewhat.

"What is it?" Sun Ce asked impatiently.

"We can't act rash," was all the Lu Meng said back.

"Act rash? Act rash?!" Sun Ce's voice echoed loudly, passionate and embolden. "What do you mean we can't act rash? Zhou Yu has been taken from us, damn it! What could I possibly care about acting rash now? Zhou Yu and I made an oath to each other; that we would protect each other no matter what! I don't give a damn about what you say now; I'm gonna do everything I can to get Zhou Yu back!"

"And so will we!" Lu Meng agreed with his voice full of ardour though his face remained passive. "But we need to think this through carefully. We cannot just go barging straight into enemy territory, demanding to see our Master Strategist. We don't even know for certain if it was Shu and Wei; these are just assumptions provided on our part and on the minimal amount of evidence that we have. We need to think this through carefully, and rationally. Cao Cao and Liu Bei may not be informed of the plan – this could all be something though up by someone else, some completely new party that resides in both Shu and Wei."

"That idea is too unlikely," Ling Tong added, brushing aside the proposal.

"But cannot be entirely ruled out," Lu Meng countered. "We need to be sure of everything before we decide to go around pointing fingers. Our army has suffered much fatigue and we are dearly lacking in strength of spirit. All three Kingdoms are currently lacking in any activity, but there was never any sort of official agreement to postpone the war. This was extremely lucky for us. We can't take any risks and jeopardise lowering the morale of our army even more so."

"Lord Lu Meng is right," Lu Xun agreed with his voice devoid of emotion.

"But this is Zhou Yu we're talking about! My husband! We can't just abandon him!"

Only Zhou Tai noticed as Sun Quan winced on the word 'husband'. Xiao Qiao's words brought some guilt to the Generals, with each person being torn between taking action and assuming a lack of action.

"We ought to talk to them, have negotiations," Lu Meng said quietly, just loud enough for everyone to hear. "I think we need to find out exactly whether Wei and Shu are working together, or if there is something more to this. But we need to be swift. We shouldn't send out any of the messengers – that might arouse suspicion and gossip arises too easily among the servants. One, no two, of us will need to go; one person to each of the Kingdoms. The others will just have to cover for the lack of three Generals. Are there any queries to this?"

"What if the other Kingdoms don't want to talk, or simply deny it?" Sun Shang Xiang brought up. "And with only one person – what good would one warrior do against an entire army?"

Lu Meng sighed. No matter what they did, what action they took, there would always be a fault in their plans. "Then that would be the only risk we would have to take. It is far better than accusing them and re-declaring open war. I doubt that Liu Bei will do anything; he is a man of honour. It is Zhuge Liang that you will have to be aware of. Even Cao Cao is still human, albeit a ruthless one. However, Lord Xiahou Dun and Lady Zhen Ji are quite kind-hearted, Lord Zhang He also, if a little eccentric. Get on their good graces and you'll probably be granted an audience with Cao Cao." Here Lu Meng stopped to take a deep breath, thinking over his words. "Actually, on second thoughts, do your best to invite them over to Jian Ye – we can have a proper arbitration on our grounds, our terms. Questions?"

"I want to go," Sun Ce stated immediately.

"No," Sun Jian uttered swiftly.

"It would be even more chary if someone were to notice Sun Ce gone, especially since Zhou Yu has been missing for the past three days," Lu Xun supplied enough cause to stop Sun Ce from leaving the Wu Castle. "We need people who are rarely noticed among the grounds – then it couldn't be deemed as anything unnatural."

"Well-spoken," Huang Gai appraised.

"Then from process of elimination," Da Qiao began. "The two best people for this sort of job would be Gan Ning, Ling Tong or Lu Xun. Gan Ning and Ling Tong are always leaving the castle to go to the market or the pier, and, forgive me for saying this; Lu Xun has a very…subtle presence. He is not noticed on a large scale."

Lu Xun nodded his understanding. "I think, that in that case, it would be best if Ling Tong and I were to handle negotiations. I could go to Wei, and Ling Tong to Shu."

"That makes sense," Gan Ning remarked. "You guys definitely have a better sense of words than me, and I'm just a lowly pirate in their eyes." He grinned at his joking attempt of sounding humble of himself. "Even if I am Gan Ning of the Ringing Terror."

Sun Jian, who understood the grave situation they were in and the importance to carry out their task swiftly, quickly summarised the meeting. "So, Ling Tong, Lu Xun – you are to go to Shu and Wei respectively and meet with Liu Bei and Cao Cao. Do what you must to ensure that they are willing to come to us; don't take anything less. Try not to mention anything to do with Zhou Yu; they may believe that we're trying to found some sort of foundation to inculpate them." Ling Tong and Lu Xun nodded.

'I'll do my best,' Lu Xun thought, hoping for the best result.

'This is so troublesome,' Ling Tong decided. 'But I guess it can't be helped. Zhou Yu is needed here.'

"When can you leave?"

"First thing tomorrow," Lu Xun answered for the both of them. "Cheng Du is farther away from Jian Ye than Xu Chang. But if the winds are kind to us, then Ling Tong should be able to sail down the Yangtze right into Shu. The way to Xu Chang will have to be taken on horseback though. I believe that we will need no more than four or five days to reach our destination and come back, depending on the weather."

"Very well then, the weather is not something that we can control," Sun Jian clasped his hands together and began placing orders. "Gan Ning, Zhou Tai – prepare the sails without being noticed. Taishi Ci, make sure that the horses are well-rested and please pick out the best for tomorrow's travel. Load and prepare it. Sun Quan quickly compose a letter to both Liu Bei and Cao Cao about our visiting Generals. Please send them as fast as possible using the eagles, as old-fashioned as that may be. Da Qiao and Xiao Qiao, ensure that if our fellow Lords do decide to pay us a visit there is sufficient room and food. Make sure that the servants make nothing of these plans. Lu Meng and Huang Gai, please issue formal declines for the troops. Inform them that they are allowed to return home and that they will be called upon when their services are needed again. Sun Shang Xiang, accompany Lu Xun and help him find appropriate clothes; something formal yet easy to ride in. Ling Tong also. I don't want either of my Generals looking dilapidated or threadbare."

"You got it, Father," Sun Shang Xiang said, reassuring everyone of her sense of style. The other Generals also emitted their share of understanding using words such as "Got it", "Yes sir" and "You can count on me!"

Sun Jian caught the eyes of his eldest son. "I'm sorry, Sun Ce, but please allow yourself to relax. It would do nobody any good if you were to get agitated."

Sun Ce didn't need to be told twice. He understood, and knew that there was nothing that he could do to help.

His Father nodded sympathetically. "Right now, Ling Tong, Lu Xun, after you finish with Sun Shang Xiang, get some sleep. Hopefully, your journey will be without trouble." He stood up from his chair and bowed to the mentioned Generals. "May good fortune be with you."

The officers of Wu smiled and bowed back, realising the dismissal, before shuffling out the door. Everyone caught eyes with each other, and set off to so their intended work, with Sun Shang Xiang dragging Ling Tong and Lu Xun to who knows where. Sun Ce walked calmly away, and continued walking until he collapsed onto Zhou Yu's bed. He didn't know why, but he was developing a habit for sleeping in Zhou Yu's room. He punched the pillow and uttered profanities, cursing to the darkness for his helplessness.

--  
Chapter 5 - Of Orders: End  
--

**A/N: **Weeeeee!! Another chapter done and completed! That took awhile! So, am I getting anywhere yet? The other characters from the other Kingdoms are going to be here soon! Weeeee I can't wait!! I'm guessing...another two chapters before their appearance. Next chapter to going to be centered entirely on Zhou Yu!! ZHOU YU! Well, almost anyways.  
Hey! Who can tell me the Wu pairings that I'm hinting at? It seems pretty clear to me, but then again, I'm the author, so that must be it. Well, whatever.  
Thanks for reading this chappie! Hope you'll stick around for the next!!


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